The Importance of Storytelling in Our Community
But, gossip tells different stories. | & February’s Summary
Hey there, Buddy! How's it going? I genuinely hope you're doing well. If not, please know that my thoughts and prayers are with you for good health and all-around well-being.
Let's discuss the importance of storytelling and how this skill makes us braver among species. A few weeks ago, I had a very heated conversation with my friend, which led me to harbor animosity towards another person—how absurd is this story? By the end of our conversation, I think we shouldn't feel compelled to know everything. It's like a matter of safety, but at times, understanding everything is necessary to establish clear boundaries in society.
Okay, let's go!
I love how stories can shape our society; for instance to connect each of us. We’ve seen in our modern era, how good copywriting can persuade a customer to buy their stuff, and how good storytelling skills attract attention from various types of audiences. To this moment, there is a lot of expertise in communication or related to the story itself. This just highlights the importance of stories and how they can shape our world.
Why do love telling and listening to stories?
Each of the stories we tell to each other reminds us that we are not alone in this world and that so many people have paved their way for us.
The interaction between the teller and the listener creates wholly different perspectives for both parties. The personal relationships that grow for each person in the room, the process of drawing people in, and making people feel welcome to the conversation are just beautiful. The roles of listener and teller might be different- the teller is active and the listener the passive one-but both contribute to creating art.
Prof. Andrea Breen, from the Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, said that identity is constructed through stories. Those stories particularly always change in our entire lives, because as humans, we often reflect on our family, work, relationships, and heartbreaks. And to my surprise, the stories we tell our friend or whoever it is, help us construct our understanding of who we are. As a listener, we gain insights into other's people experiences, thereby helping them break down their stories and helping them to understand their stories.
Then, what about gossip? Gossip tends to be malicious rumors and we never know the truth of those stories.
No wonder why gossip is always related to negative vibes, but unfortunately, it's not necessarily negative. It can be positive or neutral. Gossiping can be another way of sharing information and building community in certain areas. In a study conducted by Robbins and colleagues found that people spent approximately 52 minutes gossiping and that gossip was actually neutral. People can indeed spend a huge amount of time talking about their peers, and their friends, and that conversation is tame.
Gossip's activity has helped our ancestors to survive, it gives us the ability to spread valuable information. It's like you know maintaining our social skills in our community. The community itself is too vast to observe by ourselves, thus we need information from others. We can't say that gossip only carries negative tension because gossip can be our filter before dating someone else, for example.
Are there any gossips that should be avoided? Surely, the gossip that is solely intended to harm someone else, there's no purpose in that kind of gossip.
A study conducted by Matthew Feinberg said that the act of gossiping can help calm the body of the gossiper.
"When subjects heard about another person's anti-social behavior or an injustice, their heart rates increased. When they were able to actively gossip about the person or the situation, on the other hand, it soothed them and brought their heart rates down."
Also, eliminating people who don't harmonize well with us is sometimes necessary. Selfish people are rarely welcome in a group because they radiate wrong vibes that don't match the group's energy. Interestingly, the purity of intimacy is needed for gossip. The benefits of gossip are real, it can decrease loneliness, facilitate bonding, and serve as entertainment. So, don't resist gossip entirely because there's always something good comes from it- as long as it’s done with the right intentions.
February's Summary
It's already March, oh my soul, it feels like yesterday was New Year Eve. I've been writing several topics in February, still with no specific niche, because why not? If you're interested, you can read or re-read again my articles.
Here's the link to visit each of article:
Summary:
1. The theme I cover: three articles about societal problems we face right now, three articles about human psychology's, and the rest are from Artspace. Artspace is a medium for me to express my point using a simple fiction or a real conversation.
2. Language I use: I used English for the majority of topics.
3. The most popular titles are from Artspace: On relationship about friendship, family, and crushes & My definition of friendship, has changed are the most viewed articles among other topics.
Source:
Bubak, S. (2015, July 20). How Storytelling Impacts our Identities - U of G News. U Of G News. https://news.uoguelph.ca/2015/07/how-storytelling-impacts-our-identities/
Corson-Knowles, T. (2021, December 16). Stories Matter: Why stories are important to our lives and culture. TCK Publishing. https://www.tckpublishing.com/stories-matter/
Gottfried, S. (2019, September 25). The Science Behind Why People Gossip—And When It can be a good thing. TIME. https://time.com/5680457/why-do-people-gossip/
Well, you’ve reached the end of the story today.
If you find this article interesting, please share this with your best friends, your partner, or other important person in your life. Thank you.