Our lives are just like stories, and psychological research has shown that those that have a stronger 'Narrative Identity' live longer, healthier and happier lives. Narrative Identity is an individual's internal account of connections between past and present, and their expectation of the future. Those that craft better stories, live better lives.

Being a Storyteller Improves your life

Life is a story still being told<UL><LI>Post author</LI></UL><figure><img width="800" height="1113" src="https://thepuranikhome.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/blog-cover.png?w=966" alt="" srcset="https://thepuranikhome.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/blog-cover.png 966w, https://thepuranikhome.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/blog-cover.png?w=108 108w, https://thepuranikhome.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/blog-cover.png?w=216 216w, https://thepuranikhome.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/blog-cover.png?w=768 768w"></figure>Over the past two decades people – especially millennials and Gen Z – have become more open about issues like Mental Health and personal emotions. However, this has led to the creation of a counter culture that is popular on social media which emphasizes and encourages being aloof and reserved while expecting the worst from other people to maintain one’s own emotional well being. Apart from the obviously concerning and ever-growing ‘me vs the world’ mindset, is the issue of this behavior being peddled as being ‘realistic’ or ‘pragmatic’. This post expounds on why these mindsets are not only detrimental but also non-pragmatic.The lone wolf mindset is not realistic, infact its one of the largest drivers for lonliness which in turn is a driver for poor mental health. The glorification of this mindset is leading to an increasing amount of people attributing every setback in a relationship or friendship being due to them being too trusting or too friendly, which no doubt may sometimes be the case – but even when this is the case, cutting off all social interaction is not the solution and never will be. Just because you were friends with a douchebag doesn’t mean everyone else has to miss out on knowing what a wonderful person you are.Then what is the solution?Ans. Being a Storyteller.Popular culture is built around stories. Novels &amp; movies inspire individuals, bring them through dark periods and provide escape during stressful or passive periods alike. The main reasons that stories enjoy such a prominent position in popular culture is because of the element of relatability or identification with the characters that occupy these stories. Even though we will never have a Cyclops for a sibling that we will initially hate but eventually love, most of us with siblings can relate to Percy Jackson and his journey of accepting our siblings, even if we hated them for the first few weeks during which they got all the attention.The most simple template of a story is Person trying to accomplish Task but is plagued by obstacles along the way that are eventually overcome through some change in the external or internal environment, usually brought about my a different person, this is the template that all stories in the world from Goldilocks and the three bears to Interstellar employ- of course with modifications. Obviously most stories are not ‘realistic’ their fantastical aspect is what brings the reader joy, if Harry Potter was about a normal boy living in London that lived a mundane life, the series would not have lasted as long, neither would it have sold as much. We crave stories because we enjoy tales of problems being solved, because humans by nature are problem solving beings, why then consider our lives as anything except stories?Researcher Dan McAdams writes, “Narrative Identity is a person’s internalized and evolving life story, integrating the reconstructed past and imagined future’ basically, the story of our lives, about who we are today and how we became that person, and what this person will do in the future. Identity psychology has been a field in which heavy debates have been raging for decades, among these the Narrative theory of identity is fairly new and still under research, but hints of the idea of stories being important to the individuals’s identity were present in the work of intellectual powerhouses like Sigmund Freud. Stories are how we verbally operate in this world, when asked to introduce ourselves, or when asked to answer any question about ourselves, everything is done through stories, stories are how we unify and organize and make sense of everything that happens in our lives.In ‘The Lost Hero’ by RIck Riordan, the protagonist wakes up on a bus with no idea who he is and how he got there. He has to rely on what he is told by two other kids sitting next to him. This lack of knowledge about how he ended up where he did causes him anxiety, and a lack of direction. As per research the only times an individual is devoid of a narrative identity is when they’re either too young to form narratives (under 4) or suffering from disorders like Dementia or Alzheimer’s . In both these cases, and in the example from Rick Riordan’s book, a lack of narrative identity leads to a lack of independence of some degree. The lack of a Narrative Identity can have harsh consequences on one’s life. Dr. McAdams expresses this in his book ‘The Strange case of Donald Trump’ in which he hypothesized that the ex-president of the United States is an episodic man, and lacks a coherent life story, this results in him having to ‘compulsively live in the moment’ unable and incapable of long term planning or commitment. In a study study on the lives of American people over a large period off time, it was found that there is support for the notion that those individuals that perceived their lives as stories displayed more positive personality traits, gave more back to the society. Individuals that have gone through some traumatic experience and have since framed that as a chapter of their life that is now over, identified themselves as being part of a ‘redemptive story arc’, overcoming internal or external adversity through struggle to become healthier, stronger and more emotionally resilient human beings. The people studied went through immensely traumatic experiences, some of which tend to make one loose faith in humanity. However, no story contains just one character (except super bleak ones about the world ending, and even those have a dog as a companion or something). In his book, ‘The Road to Character’ author David Brooks details the lives of several influential people. A recurring theme among the stories is that they guided themselves with a sense of purpose derived from their past experiences, and a sense of duty towards their future ones.Being a Storyteller of your own life helps you process trauma, attach meaning to your past and unify the past and present and go forward into the future with a strong sense of character and self. A character that will guide you into your future. Viewing life as a fictional story is not extremely realistic, because most stories have a happy ending, which unfortunately may not be true for everyone, but the lone wolf mindset strips life of it’s different characters and sends you down a lonely path – thats unrealistic too. The question is whether you want to live a unrealistic life that makes you happy, or one which forces you to be lonely.Thank you for reading The Puranik Blog, if you got value from this post then please consider leaving a comment or following the blog, or even leaving a like. Have a great day and don’t forget to bring value to the lives of others.<h3>Share this:</h3><UL><LI>Tags</LI></UL>

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Over the past two decades people – especially millennials and Gen Z – have become more open about issues like Mental Health and personal emotions. However, this has led to the creation of a counter culture that is popular on social media which emphasizes and encourages being aloof and reserved while expecting the worst from other people to maintain one’s own emotional well being. Apart from the obviously concerning and ever-growing ‘me vs the world’ mindset, is the issue of this behavior being peddled as being ‘realistic’ or ‘pragmatic’. This post expounds on why these mindsets are not only detrimental but also non-pragmatic.

The lone wolf mindset is not realistic, infact its one of the largest drivers for lonliness which in turn is a driver for poor mental health. The glorification of this mindset is leading to an increasing amount of people attributing every setback in a relationship or friendship being due to them being too trusting or too friendly, which no doubt may sometimes be the case – but even when this is the case, cutting off all social interaction is not the solution and never will be. Just because you were friends with a douchebag doesn’t mean everyone else has to miss out on knowing what a wonderful person you are.

Popular culture is built around stories. Novels &amp; movies inspire individuals, bring them through dark periods and provide escape during stressful or passive periods alike. The main reasons that stories enjoy such a prominent position in popular culture is because of the element of relatability or identification with the characters that occupy these stories. Even though we will never have a Cyclops for a sibling that we will initially hate but eventually love, most of us with siblings can relate to Percy Jackson and his journey of accepting our siblings, even if we hated them for the first few weeks during which they got all the attention.

The most simple template of a story is Person trying to accomplish Task but is plagued by obstacles along the way that are eventually overcome through some change in the external or internal environment, usually brought about my a different person, this is the template that all stories in the world from Goldilocks and the three bears to Interstellar employ- of course with modifications. Obviously most stories are not ‘realistic’ their fantastical aspect is what brings the reader joy, if Harry Potter was about a normal boy living in London that lived a mundane life, the series would not have lasted as long, neither would it have sold as much. We crave stories because we enjoy tales of problems being solved, because humans by nature are problem solving beings, why then consider our lives as anything except stories?

Researcher Dan McAdams writes, “Narrative Identity is a person’s internalized and evolving life story, integrating the reconstructed past and imagined future’ basically, the story of our lives, about who we are today and how we became that person, and what this person will do in the future. Identity psychology has been a field in which heavy debates have been raging for decades, among these the Narrative theory of identity is fairly new and still under research, but hints of the idea of stories being important to the individuals’s identity were present in the work of intellectual powerhouses like Sigmund Freud. Stories are how we verbally operate in this world, when asked to introduce ourselves, or when asked to answer any question about ourselves, everything is done through stories, stories are how we unify and organize and make sense of everything that happens in our lives.

In ‘The Lost Hero’ by RIck Riordan, the protagonist wakes up on a bus with no idea who he is and how he got there. He has to rely on what he is told by two other kids sitting next to him. This lack of knowledge about how he ended up where he did causes him anxiety, and a lack of direction. As per research the only times an individual is devoid of a narrative identity is when they’re either too young to form narratives (under 4) or suffering from disorders like Dementia or Alzheimer’s . In both these cases, and in the example from Rick Riordan’s book, a lack of narrative identity leads to a lack of independence of some degree. The lack of a Narrative Identity can have harsh consequences on one’s life. Dr. McAdams expresses this in his book ‘The Strange case of Donald Trump’ in which he hypothesized that the ex-president of the United States is an episodic man, and lacks a coherent life story, this results in him having to ‘compulsively live in the moment’ unable and incapable of long term planning or commitment. In a study study on the lives of American people over a large period off time, it was found that there is support for the notion that those individuals that perceived their lives as stories displayed more positive personality traits, gave more back to the society. Individuals that have gone through some traumatic experience and have since framed that as a chapter of their life that is now over, identified themselves as being part of a ‘redemptive story arc’, overcoming internal or external adversity through struggle to become healthier, stronger and more emotionally resilient human beings. The people studied went through immensely traumatic experiences, some of which tend to make one loose faith in humanity. However, no story contains just one character (except super bleak ones about the world ending, and even those have a dog as a companion or something). In his book, ‘The Road to Character’ author David Brooks details the lives of several influential people. A recurring theme among the stories is that they guided themselves with a sense of purpose derived from their past experiences, and a sense of duty towards their future ones.

Being a Storyteller of your own life helps you process trauma, attach meaning to your past and unify the past and present and go forward into the future with a strong sense of character and self. A character that will guide you into your future. Viewing life as a fictional story is not extremely realistic, because most stories have a happy ending, which unfortunately may not be true for everyone, but the lone wolf mindset strips life of it’s different characters and sends you down a lonely path – thats unrealistic too. The question is whether you want to live a unrealistic life that makes you happy, or one which forces you to be lonely.

Thank you for reading The Puranik Blog, if you got value from this post then please consider leaving a comment or following the blog, or even leaving a like. Have a great day and don’t forget to bring value to the lives of others.

How Storytelling makes your life better

Being a Storyteller Improves your life

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