Psychology: Meaning Pt. 4: Storytelling (By SooDoneWithYou)

Heya~

Introduction:

The pain, is it almost over? Disregard that, and welcome to the fourth and final part of my "meaning" series. I did this all in one night because I hate myself and love writing.

So the final pillar of meaning is something that's not really like the rest and comes as quite the surprise to many people, and this is storytelling. Storytelling may not be the most obvious of the four, but it's certainly important just as well. Let me tell you why.

Forth Pillar: Storytelling

Storytelling is something that many people underestimate the importance of. Pretty much anything you do for entertainment has a story. Whether you're watching a movie, watching anime, reading a story, reading manga, or playing a video game, everything has a story. This applies to you as a person as well. You have a story, just like any of those anime, manga, games or books. The difference is that you get to dictate your own story. You get to write the pages and chapters.

Your life is more than just a list of events or experiences. Your life is like a book that you're the author of. You get to change things and interpret them as you want without others interfering. You can retell your story as you need as long as you don't lie. There's a big difference between interpreting facts differently, and lying. For example, someone might describe an invention that didn't work as a catastrophic failure and one of the worst experiences of their lives, but you could also describe it as the best learning experience they've ever had. That's the difference. The facts stayed the same, but the attitude and interpretation changed.

Having this kind of optimistic mindset is important in making your past and present experiences feel both important and fulfilling. Storytelling is actually something that can lead you into the other three pillars. With storytelling, you can find that your purpose in life is to entertain or mentor others with this mindset. Telling stories can help connect you with strangers, revisit old memories with friends, or entertain your younger family members.

People who find meaning in their lives tend to tell life stories that involve growth and finding fulfillment in their experiences, even the bad ones. Reflecting on your life and realizing how you view and interpret your experiences is one of the biggest part of finding meaning in your past actions.

Lastly, do you remember how I talked about religion in the last thread? Religion can actually be interpreted in a non religious way. The religious stories are the most fundamental human stories throughout time. Mythology tells truth whether literal or figurative. People find transcendence within stories as well. When you're completely enveloped in a story, religious or entertainment, you are experiencing a state of euphoria higher than your own experience. You're experiencing the troupes of human history, the most common of which being the hero. I elaborated in this on one of my past threads, but an example is Jesus. He's the perfect person to represent humanity in their quest to become a hero. Taking on suffering and burdens beyond our limits, and transcending them to become a hero. A salvation for all people. That is true desire, more meaningful to someone than anything else.

Conclusion:

Well, that's the last thread. I hope you all enjoyed it, and I really do appreciate anyone who actually reads through my threads.

Questions:

1.) Do you think storytelling is a good way of finding meaning in life?

2.) Do you tend to think optimistically or pessimistically about paste experiences?

3.) How does this pillar compare to the others?