Exploring the Role of Personal Narratives in Understanding Identity

#1

Hello everyone,

I’m curious to hear your thoughts on how personal narratives shape our understanding of identity. In recent readings, I’ve been thinking a lot about how the stories we tell ourselves about who we are, and the experiences that inform these stories, play a significant role in both personal growth and societal interactions.

Daniel David Wallace’s work has inspired me to explore this further, especially the idea that identity isn’t something static but rather an evolving narrative. How much of who we are is shaped by the stories we choose to emphasize in our lives, versus the stories that are imposed on us by others, society, or culture?

For example, the way we remember our past—whether through positive framing or focusing on hardships—can profoundly affect how we navigate the present and future. Our individual identity seems to be a combination of these narratives: the personal, the collective, and the historical.

I’m interested in whether anyone here has had experiences where shifting your personal narrative, or reinterpreting past events, has led to a new understanding of who you are. How do these narratives evolve over time, and what role do external factors (family, culture, etc.) play in reshaping them?

Additionally, how do you see this concept of personal narrative fitting into the broader discussions of psychology and social interaction? Could understanding and potentially changing our personal stories contribute to social healing or conflict resolution on a larger scale?

I also checked this: https://discourse.danieldavidwallace.com/t/crime-mystery-first-person-or-third-person/golang

Looking forward to hearing your perspectives!

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#2

This philosophy works for me in the real world, and when I create fictional characters:

“If you want to know your past, look into your present condition; if you want to know your future, look into you present actions.” Quote attributed to Buddha, and others.

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#3

My first impulse is asking your age, @evansdavis090. I’m 59 (and today is my birthday), and I went to that discovery some years ago. Since that realization, I’ve spoken with many people of all ages, and a pattern seems to exist pointing to age and circumstances triggering that kind of questioning and realization.

And yes, I strongly agree with the concept of personal narratives influencing us. If you consider that therapists basically heal through facilitating a change in the personal narrative, it all makes sense.

I also agree with @Lita_Brooker, it’s very useful in real life and in creating characters (and stories). Identity stories are common in film and literature.

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#4

Hola, Victoria. Nice to see you here. We met through the SG Guild.

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#5

This is the line of exploration that most intrigues me, and has for decades — since childhood, actually.
I’ve read many books, papers, and popularized articles — and had extended discussions with many deep-diving people who come at this from multiple disciplines.
YES to your questions about the positive potentials of the unending project of self-narrative curation. It is our greatest act of creation and greatest source of agency. It’s also essential to extracting ourselves, individually and collectively, from nihilistic tendencies and trajectories, and replacing them with thought-and-action patterns that improve quality of existence.
The implications of your question are vast. It’s also an area rife with charlatans more interested in building followings or parting us from our assets. After many unproductive detours, I find it best to maintain a curios, engaged, yet non-attached perspective and posture to all of the big questions of life.
I can recommend a list of books and other resources, if you’d like. I’m eyeballs deep in several projects at the moment, but need to update my resource list anyway.

#6

And I must add that it’s Daniel’s playful, experimental, curious-yet-agile approach to creative work that drew me to his courses.