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From: Dr Eric
Miller, Chennai 98403
94282 eric@storytellinginstitute.org www.storytellingandvideoconferencing.com Speaking
Notes for talk/workshop on the "Story-making Process of the Human
Mind", Tues 4 Sept, 2012. 9-11am. International Conference on Enriching the Connection between Literature and Life Literature
is related to Story, Fantasy, Imagination, Daydream, Self-Awareness,
Expression, Articulation, and Thought ("Might I do it this way, or that
way?" -- internal discussion one has with oneself, the author, and the
characters). The mechanics
of connection between self and Story involve Projection, Identification,
Empathy, Imitation, and Imagination. These are key processes when it comes
to people and story. People project themselves into story
characters. They tend to identify, and feel empathy, with the
characters. This occurs through the use of people's powers of
imagination. People may then imitate the characters of their favourite
stories. Why
enrich, nurture, broaden the connection? Many people think of the
Imagination as an escape, a waste of time. But those of us who love the
life of the imagination know that imaginative thought and play can lead to
changes in reality. One way this can happen is, one can learn lessons
in imaginary play that one can then apply to one's "real" life --
relating to making plans to change both self and society. Stories can
be models of the past, and models for the future. The Story-making Process of the Human Mind (Ways One Processes Experience into Story) Activity
no 1 (Talking in groups of two) Tell
the person sitting next to you about something that happened in the past 24
hours. Shift
from 1st person to 3rd person. Create
metaphors/symbols/representations for experience (it felt like such-and-such)
-- doing this can relate one's self to society and nature. *** Activity
no 2 (Writing) Write
about, Ask
yourself, "When I daydream, what
do I daydream about?" (Write for 10 minutes.) Of
what you have written, what stands out as interesting? (Write for 3
minutes.) *** Activity
no 3 (Writing) Write
about, What
is a Social or Environmental Problem/Issue that often comes up in your
mind? Has this Problem/Issue affected your life, or the life of anyone
you know? If things might continue going badly, where might they be
headed? Follow the lines of thought to their logical conclusions.
Can you imagine any ways by which the situation could possibly be improved? *** Ways to make a Life Story out of one's life One
constructs, composes, one's Life Story. Guiding
factors of one's Life Story may include: 1) unique
Interests and Skills; and 2) Turning Points (Past and Future). Activity
no 4 (Writing) Write
about, When
did you become aware of unique talents, skills, and interests of yours?
How have you developed these abilities through education, and applied them at
work? This
would be something you really enjoy, and immediatey were very good at.
Something that agrees with you. You feel you were put on this earth to
do it. When you find something you are passionate about, you do not
need to have self-discipline, because you love doing it so much. Activity
no 5 (Writing) Write
about, What
are one or more of the major decisions, or other turning points, that have
occurred in your life? Think about such events that may be coming up in
the future. If
one's life goes very differently from how one imagined it was going to go,
and this difference is painful, one may need to practice Life Story
Repair. This is because one's Life Story makes sense out of
experience. Where is one coming from? Where is one going?
Especially in terms of relationships and work. If one's Life Story
makes sense, then hopefully one's life will follow suit, and work out
accordingly, so one can 'live happily ever
after'. In
one's real life, there may be many loose ends. A lot may be up in the
air. With one's Life Story, one makes sense out of all that. *** We
imagine like we breathe (it is very difficult to stop doing it). We put
two and two together. We make sense out of things. We are always trying
to figure out, what is going on? What is going to happen next?
What should I do to handle the situation in the best way possible? We may
seek to pour our experience into molds. We may perceive and thus shape
our experience into certain formulas. The
principle of Linguistic Relativity (popularly known as the Sapir–Whorf
hypothesis) holds that the particulars of a language -- its grammar,
vocabulary, and so on -- affect the ways in which its speakers perceive the
world. The way we perceive and describe things depends on our
linguistic and conceptual vocabulary. If it does not fit into our
worldview, it just does not register in our minds, so it goes right by us
unnoticed. Thus,
the act of perception is an act of creativity. We have the illusiion
that we are objective, that we seee things as they really are, but this is an
illusion. We are not objective. We impose our worldview onto reality,
and we see reality through the filter of our world view. Each language
is, on one level a prison, enabling us to see and express certain things, but
being oblivious to other things. This is one reason why language
diversity is so valuable -- the presence of multiple languages facilitates
the presence of multiple worldviews, and this multiplicity is very useful for
problem-solving, creativity, the proverbial 'thinking outside of the box'. *** Culture
is the formulaic use of units of thought, speech, and behaviour. Taken-for-granted
thought processes, ways of handling situations. Formula.
Habit (a creature of habit, a prisoner of habit). Customary.
Conventional. Familiar. Ordinary. Common. Common
practices. Best practices. Competent. Standard. Typical. S/he
knows how to do things. S/he knows how to get things done. Is
there a Periyar University way of thinking, speaking, and behaving? Is
there such a thing as speaking the Periyar University way? *** I would
recite six popular story formulas. Please tell me if any of them relate
to your life: Story Formulas include -- 1) Family
Togetherness -- Together, apart, together again. 2) Heroic
-- He/she suffers oppression, escapes, returns triumphantly. 3) Conflict-centric
-- Competition and confrontation between ideas, individuals, or groups. 4) Mission-centric
-- He/she is on a mission; wants something. 5) Rise
and Fall (Catharsis) -- He/she rises, but due to a fatal flaw (pride),
falls. Life
Story Formulas include-- 1) Forced
Loss (Lament) -- My fate has been determined by losing being
separated from someone or something. One thinks about what could have
been. One really suffers over what one lost, or never got.
Hopefully, this state of mind leads to making a plan and recovering what has
been lost. 2) Voluntary
Loss -- Sacrificing oneself for others, for the sake of family
obligations (a women may have married, had children, interrupted their
educational, intellectual, and professional development; a man may have
worked to support his wife and children). 3)
Youth was a time of freedom and play. Adulthood is a time of duty,
responsibilities, stress, and even possibly "selling one's soul" to
support self and family. 4) Work
hard, and achieve success. Tribal
Story Formulas include -- 1) In
ancient days we were free to interact with the forest. Now we are kept away
from the forest by Govt regulations and conditions. *** Remember.
Observe.
Question.
Imagine. *** Activity
no 6 (Game) Connect
pieces into a story: Word Association (4 words). Activity
no 7 (Game) Connect
pieces into a story: Character. Place. Action.
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