Tip bit #28: Look for a story

You can find stories everywhere if you care to look.  Why should you care to look for stories?  Stories are a great sense-making tool.  Stories are like a good meal.  They have just the right ingredients to whip up a meaning.  What did you have for dinner yesterday?  Whatever it was, you probably wouldn’t want to eat the ingredients that went into your meal separately.  How about a spoon of sugar, a 1/2 cup of water, followed by some flour on a slice of a tomato?  I don’t think so.   But when you mix them up in the right order and add some labor and love, the result is something fabulous and perfectly edible (let’s hope) that gives you both nourishment and pleasure. 

Similarly, you don’t want to consume unrelated pieces of information.  Stories add coherence and substance, and as you know by now, we learn through linking and association, so stories are good for learning.  They make you guess what’s to come, and our brains like to solve problems.  Good stories, just like good food, speak to various senses:  they make us see, hear and smell things in a good, healthy way, and we remember things better when all of our senses are engaged.  Finally, stories make us emotional, and when we get joyful, sad or mad about something, it stands out in our memory.  So, look for stories around you because they help us make sense of the world. 

I saw a fine example of storytelling yesterday thanks to Legal Andrew who pointed out this 2-minute viral video.  Check it out.

Comments

[Andrew Flusche]

Hi Anastasia,

Nice article - storytelling is definitely critical, and it's an art that is being lost in our society.

Thanks for the link,
Andrew

[Anastasia]

Thanks, Andrew. I think storytelling is a great skill to learn.