Have you ever compared your version of events with a good friend? A false narrative is a mental framework you use in order to interpret events that upon deeper investigation turn out to be untrue or skewed. The father of cognitive psychology, Ulric Neisser, wrote in the compendium Self-narratives: True and False, "Human beings exist through time, just as everything else does: One thing happens after another. But unlike anything else, people remember what happened to them – some of it, anyway. This is a remarkable achievement. The remarkable thing is not just that past events influence the … [Read more...]
Writing Anxiety: Feeling Feral Writing Prompt
If I said to you, "he is a dog" you would know what I mean, right? Or that she eats like a horse. That kid has the strength of a lion. We use animals at metaphors for qualities that exist in both the animal and human world. We say, he crushed his workout like a beast, or she runs like a gazelle. It is a useful repertoire of metaphors, but there is a dark side to it also. A lot of our anxieties have to do with what I would call our "animal selves." We share our biology with animals - chimpanzees and humans share 99% of our DNA. We share biological functions - the need to sleep, eat, excrete, … [Read more...]
Writing Anxiety: The Monster Writing Prompt
If you haven't read about the roots of anxiety, you may want to read the Hold On To Your Story: Writing Anxiety post first. It is commonly thought that when ancient cartographers would get to the part of the map that had not been explored, and would write, "Here be Monsters." Why? Because a monster is basically an unknown thing - a place or being that is submerged, hidden, partially visible, uncategorizable, or alien. Map and globe makers would draw creatures that live in the ocean with parts of animals they recognized- a sea cow etc. because humans use what we have had experience with … [Read more...]
Hold On To Your Story: Writing Anxiety
Hold on to Your Story. Everyone has a story of anxiety. Whether it is the insidious all-encompassing generalized anxiety or based on a specific instance (a report due, public speaking, crossing a shaky bridge) we struggle with anxiety as part of human nature. National surveys estimate nearly one in five Americans over 18, and one in three teens ages 13 to 18, had an anxiety disorder during the past year. When I was a sophomore in college I had my first panic attack and since that point I have spent a large portion of my life navigating anxiety. With the rest of the world opening up … [Read more...]