Why Do We Tell Stories?

As one who helps people tell their stories (on video), I particularly enjoyed this week's episode of KUT Radio's "Two Guys on Your Head" with Dr. Art Markman​ and Dr. Bob Duke.  "We need stories in order to make sense of things" is one of the things they explain. Please listen & enjoy! http://kut.org/post/why-do-we-tell-stories One of their points is that stories help us connect and make sense of the many bits of information in our brains. This is nothing new and most people agree with it (as I do). But if this is widely accepted as fact, then why are so many people hesitant to tell the stories of their own lives?

I have always thought the main reason is that our society teaches us that if we talk about ourselves, we are bragging...and that's a very bad thing to do! Yet, we learn so much from the stories of others. Valuable life lessons are learned often from strangers who are not related or whom we previously didn't care much about. In my work at LifeStories Alive, I have had my clients (usually the children of the interviewees) tell me of the exciting and valuable lessons they've learned from their loved ones, just by listening to their life's stories.

So I ask for your help in answering the above question, "Why are so many people hesitant to tell the stories of their own lives?" Your ideas, thoughts and input in the Leave a Reply section below will be much appreciated.

Two Guys on Your Head