Ever since ever, stories are the way humans love to share authentic human experiences. Here’s some of why that is.
Stories bring us to the core of experience. Through stories, we share passions, sadness, hardships and joys. We share meaning and purpose. Stories are the common ground that allows people to communicate, overcoming our defenses and our differences, as Pamela B. Rutledge Ph.D., M.B.A. says in Psychology Today.
Stories are how we explain how things work, how we make decisions, how we justify decisions, how we persuade, how we understand our place in the world, create our identities, and define and teach social values. Stories provide order.
Stores take place in the imagination. To the human brain, imagined experiences are processed the same as real experiences. Stories create genuine emotions, presence (the sense of being somewhere) and behavioral responses.
Stories are the pathway to engaging our right brain and triggering our imagination. By engaging our imagination, we become participants in the narrative. We can step out of our own shoes, see differently, and increase our empathy for others. Through imagination, we tap into creativity that is the foundation of innovation, self-discovery and change.
Stories connect us and bridge differences.
So what’s your story?