Story telling, i.e narratives , hold a place in the lives of everyone. Myself, being someone who has always enjoyed writing, particularly narrative writing; have always known this to be true. So, in reading Julie Beck’s “Life’s Stories,” I found a ton points in which I felt as if she was reading my mind about the mentality I’ve always had towards narrative writing. However, there are some specific moments in which I felt strongly resonated with me in the same way. These include:
“In the realm of narrative psychology, a persons life story is not a Wikipedia biography of facts and events of a life, but rather the way a person integrates those facts and events internally.”
“I think normal, healthy adults have in common that they can all produce life story”
“Storytelling then- fictional or nonfictional, realistic or embellished with dragons- is a way of making sense of the world around us.”
For me, these excerpts speak so much to my own experience with personal narrative writing and, even narrative speaking, I find that when I am going through a time in which I find it difficult to make sense of things, writing about it gives me clarity. Even beyond this, I have always found that I tend to narrate my life to myself, live as it is taking place. See, when I narrate my feelings and the things going on around me to myself, I find it easier to be grounded in the here and now. Narrative, speaking, writing and even thinking (is that a thing? oh well, I suppose it is now) is my way of interpreting my feelings and my reasons for feeling them in a way that says “this is what’s happening, this is how i’m feeling about it and that’s okay.” One thing i’ve noticed about myself is that when I go through dark time, I respond in a way that says “wow, that was hard… I need to talk about this.” whether it be in writing about it, speaking verbally about it, both to other people, or even just to myself. No matter who the “audience” may be. There’s a reason why so many people pay obscene amounts of money to tell their stories to therapists and why authors go through the rigorous processes of writing, editing and publishing their words. There’s so much healing, peace and satisfaction to be found in the art of telling your story.
I agree with you when you said that thinking of your life as a narrative can give clarity to a situation, this is definitely something I do and I believe others do too. Also used one of the quotes you did, the one about story telling being a way to make sense of things. I also think it is really interesting when you mentioned how talking or writing something out is a way to help you through the hard times. I did not really think about this when I responded to the prompt, but I think it is a really good point to bring up.