Storytelling: An Empowering Endeavor
You Have the Power — You Just Don’t Know It
On Valentine’s Day, 1990, the Voyager 1 space probe sped past Saturn along its route out of the Milky Way. Famed astronomer and writer Carl Sagan advocated to turn the satellite 180 degrees so it could take a photograph of Earth from the furthest distance we’ve ever achieved.
That photograph became known as the Pale Blue Dot.
When writing about the impact the photograph had on him, Sagan observed the following:
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world.
If astronomy (and science in general) is a humbling experience, I believe storytelling is an empowering experience.
With each step you take toward a mastery of storytelling, the more you understand your capacity for change as a human being. Everything in story is predicated on people making difficult choices under the pressure of the world. It is undeniable just how much power each and every one of us has to determine desirable outcomes in our lives.
I’m not saying that a 45 year-old can “choose” his way to the NBA after a lifetime of sitting on the couch. I’m also not saying that a 27 year-old can “choose” to become the next Carl Sagan after not cracking a book her entire life.
However, once you understand our brains interpret the world in story form, all it takes is an understanding of the architecture of stories to construct a happier world for yourself through choices. You begin to expect challenges and obstacles in life. In fact, you relish them, because you know your brain derives self-worth and meaning from overcoming those roadblocks.
A firm understanding of story makes you realize that your character is determined by how you react to challenges. Character isn’t determined by what you believe or the opinions you hold — character is determined by behavior.
Remember this line from Batman Begins?
It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.
That’s a storytelling axiom as old as Aristotle. Knowing that this is the way our brains work — regardless of whether your opinions agree or not — simplifies the world around you and puts all the power in your hands to determine what happiness and balance mean in your life.
Therefore, to understand storytelling is to understand ourselves.
