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“Humans are not ideally set up to understand logic; they are ideally set up to understand stories.” ~ Roger C Schank, Cognitive Scientist
“Spiritual transformation is our remaining pathway to sustainability as a species embedded on this planet.” ~ Gayatri Laraine
I’m on a mission. My goal is to use stories to help us connect with one another so that what we think of as divisions, melt away and we understand each other better. This article that I wrote for the Prolific Writers Life newsletter, explains why stories are so important.
Long before math and science were conceived of, even before written languages were devised, stories were the way knowledge was passed down from generation to generation. Sometimes the stories were painted on the walls of caves. But surely stories were part of the rituals and quiet evenings around the campfire. In the stories, humans speculated about the stars, passed along plant lore and other vital information for living in a dangerous world. They also helped examine and define how to conduct human relationships.
Somehow many of us have forgotten the importance of stories and now think of them as frivolous entertainment. For the most part people use stories to escape the stresses of real life but don’t have other uses for them. The common feeling is that if we want to save the world, we need to study math, science, and engineering, but what if that point of view is incorrect? Don’t get me wrong, we need those hard disciplines. But for the most part, they can’t help us learn to get along with our fellow human beings and that’s one thing we desperately need right now.
I’m an unabashed story lover thanks to the family movie nights my parents instituted. And during our movie night discussions, I learned some great skills for living with my fellow human beings. Those discussions taught my siblings and me to think critically; to look beneath the surface of the behaviors of the characters. Those discussions helped me understand the consequences of the character’s choices. Eventually, I began to see that I could use what I was learning from stories in my everyday life.
Recently I found this quote by Dale Carnegie, from How To Win Friends and Influence People, that expresses how my parents used movies to teach my siblings and me how to get along with others, “Instead of condemning people, let’s try to understand them. Let’s try to figure out why they do what they do. That’s a lot more profitable and intriguing than criticism; and it breeds sympathy, tolerance and kindness. ‘To know all is to forgive all.’ ” That was the method my parents used when we were discussing the movies we watched and the books we read. And as Dale Carnegie indicated, asking questions about the characters actions helped me become more empathetic and compassionate.
I find it fascinating that we are still attracted to the most ancient myths and written stories because we can continue to learn from them. Myths like, The Odyssey, have been told over and over again. In fact a new version will be coming out in 2026. Poor Helen. She may be blamed for the greed and power grab of men like Agamemnon, Odysseus, Achilles, and Menelaus once again. The extant ancient Greek plays are produced, adapted and performed on a regular basis as are Shakespeare’s plays. Why? Because we are still fascinated by the relationships and challenges the characters faced.
If you’ve never analyzed a story before, here are some tips. Why is probably the first question you’ll ask, “Why is the character acting the way they are. Why are they making the choices they’re making?” Here’s where you use your imagination. There will be more than one possible reason, childhood trauma, religious or societal attitudes, betrayal, grief, and more.
The next thing to ask is, “What are the consequences of their choices and actions?” Did they work out well, or not? You might also ask yourself if you can relate to the characters in the story? If not why not?
And finally what are the messages or themes of the story? I used to tell my English and theatre students that everything that’s written down has a purpose and if we’re going to learn anything we will want to examine the different layers of messages that the author is trying to get us to understand.
Fortunately for us, there is an endless supply of stories with all kinds of situations, with characters making both good and bad decisions that we can examine but not have to experience ourselves. Stories offer up many experiences and perspectives about living that we would never be able to understand without them.
Since many of you reading this blog are writers or creatives, you have probably already learned to analyze stories but do you pass your knowledge along to your friends and family? Talking about stories in detail can be a fun activity. It brought my family closer together, maybe it will do the same for yours.
Prolific Writers Life
I recently joined Prolific Writers Life, a writing community created by Lorraine Haataia, PhD, as an expert on podcasting. Lorraine is a former Story-Power guest and now friend. The community she’s building is a supportive place for authors with a variety of experts to help you write, produce, and promote your books. Lorraine and I hope you’ll take a look and see if you and your book can benefit from all the services PWL provides. You can also sign up for the PWL weekly newsletter for free. We have many free events that you may want to join as a way to see if this is a community can be of benefit to you.
Story-Power on Patreon
I’m so passionate about stories that I created the Story-Power Patreon Community so I’d have an excuse to talk story with other story lovers. Patreon is $5 a month for content not found on the Story-Power podcast, or on my Sage Woman Blog. They have recently instituted a free tier so you can try it out before you buy. If you’re passionate about stories, and want to talk about what you’ve learned from your favorites, come join me at patreon.com/StoryPower. Let’s share what we’ve learned from the stories we love.
PodMatch for Podcasters
If you are a podcaster, or have a message or fantastic product you want to share with the world, I encourage you to check out PodMatch. I call them a dating service for podcasters. Use the affiliate link and tell them, Lucinda sent you. Then contact me so we can set up a Story-Power chat.
Classic Cinema with the Sage Sisters on YouTube and Facebook
More story exploration opportunities await you at Classic Cinema with the Sage Sisters on YouTube where we analyze one movie per episode. On the Facebook group we discuss all things movies. Come join the fun on both platforms.
Sage Woman Chronicles 