The Storytelling Brain, You’re the Story, and The Chaos of Life
Wednesday Wisdoms for April 2, 2025
Mind Candy is a newsletter on practical philosophy and human flourishment—aka how to live “the good life.” Each month we tackle a new theme.
This month we’re exploring the theme of Story.
Welcome to Wednesday Wisdom, our 3x3 Newsletter where I distill worldly advice for better living with 3 quotes, 3 observations, and 3 questions.
The Storytelling Brain
🤨 Quote
“So the brain is a storyteller and it's also a hero-maker - and the hero that it makes is you.”
Will Storr
Source: Selfie
Observation 🧐
We’re all the protagonist of our own stories and by default, see ourselves as the heroes.
It doesn’t matter whether you are rich or poor, educated or not, each and every one of us views life through the perspective of our own story.
By experiencing life directly, and viewing ourselves as the protagonist, we quickly assimilate into archetypal views of ourselves.
For example, we may be one of the richest people in the world, but if the majority of people root against us, we see ourselves as the underdog, the scrappy individual determined to prove the odds wrong and overcome the obstacles before us.
As Storr writes, “The brain is a plagiarist, stealing ideas from the stories that surround it, then incorporating them into its self… we absorb the stories that flow around our culture and use them to make sense of our past, our future, and to help us figure out who we are and who we want to be.”
Each and every one of us is writing the story of our lives. But the sooner we can bring this into conscious awareness, the sooner we can learn to better narrate our actions and the story we’re trying to tell.
That is the advantage of being both the narrator and protagonist of your own epic, you decide what happens next.
🤔 Question
Reflect upon your life as of right now. What is the story you’re living? Then ask yourself why.
You’re the Story
🤨 Quote
“You are your own stories and therefore free to imagine and experience what it means to be human.”
Toni Morrison
Source: Dedicated
Observation 🧐
Each and every one of us tells stories of our lives. We each grow up in cultures that cherish heroes and despise villains, that roots for the underdog and despises the villain.
Each culture has their own set of stories that the individuals of the cultures repeat and take on.
We live our lives bringing these different stories into our own orbit based upon our personality, our desires, and the location of where we live.
As the psychologist Dan McAdams has pointed out, “Culture provides each person with an extensive menu of stories about how to live and each of us chooses from the menu.”
Ironically enough, culture was born from the stories we told and now continue to tell. The culture of a society adjusts over time based upon the shifting of the narratives the society as a whole grabs hold of.
Likewise, our lives then start to become self-fulfilling prophecies. The more we tell ourselves these stories, the more real they become. As time goes on, these become further and further engrained in who we are, that attitudes we hold, and how we act.
Each of us has gone through different phases of our lives and tried on different stories—the rebel who rejects authority, the businessman who believes money is all powerful, the individual looking for redemption. Each of these are stories and these stories work to guide us, whether it be through the way we dress, the jobs we’re willing to take, or the language we use.
Each and everything we do is driven by these stories and in turn we become the story we are embodying.
🤔 Question
Pick a subject in your life such as a relationship, a job, etc. Reflect upon your attitude towards it, the types of tasks you perform, your motivations. Now reflect on what stories may have brought you here. What are these stories?
Beneath the paywall this week we explore the wisdom of Brian Klaas. Click below to support and get access.