I just read in New Scientist magazine that about 108 billion humans have lived on earth at some time or other. That is a lot of life stories! Of course, animals also have life stories (read, e.g., The Secret Life of Dogs). Plants do too. You might think the life stories of plants would be dull, but consider their struggles to gain sunlight, fight off pests, survive drought, and reproduce. I could go on about bacteria and viruses (“I found a cell to take over — time to get busy!”), but let’s just agree there have been lots of life stories on our little planet. Almost all of which are lost now.
Stories of life can both enthrall and educate us. I want to hear more of them. I want you to tell more of them. You can do it orally, in writing, in videos. You can write the story as poetry or put it to music. You choose.
To provide a model, I will tell you a little story of my life: Years ago when I was attending law school, I became close to another student. I called her Star because she showed brilliance in one law class we shared. She and I were both sporty individuals, and we joined a law school softball team. With proper symbolism in the first game of the season, I pitched and she caught. Before the game started, I thought about warning her of a mistake novice catchers sometimes make. When runners head for home base, fielders throw the ball to the catcher. Inexperienced catchers often stand right on top of home base to await the ball. That leaves nowhere for the runner to go but right into the catcher. I decided not to warn Star about that risk because the scenario seemed unlikely and I didn’t want to look like a know-it-all. Midway through the game, the scenario came to life. A huge woman rumbled toward home, where Star stood on top of the base. Bam! Star sustained a sprained ankle and missed the rest of the season. I never again kept silent about a risk on a softball field. After I became a psychologist, I studied the effects of health warnings on cigarette packages and alcohol containers. More recently I have studied possible warnings on marijuana packages. I like warnings.
What stories could you tell? How might you benefit from the telling? How might others benefit from listening?
John Malouff, PhD, JD, Assoc Prof of Psychology
It took me a while, but after being at a conference this weekend where everyone had a story (including Patch Adams,now there is a storyteller!), something from a high school science class occurred to me. The science teacher was heating up copper discs in a bunsen burner, something about colour changes and temperature, dropping them in to a water bath to quench them … pretty ordinary … until he threw one of discs to a student and said “catch” … yes, the student did, and a burn came up straight away … but … the teacher then revealed the actual hot coin … and … the cold coin he had substituted … which “caused” the burn … telling us never to doubt the power of the mind … a bizarre story … you had to be there … but 40 years later … I’ve always remembered that day … perhaps it contributed to my interest in hypnosis and it’s influence on physiological states …
Good story, MS, with an important lesson involved.