Storytelling Isn’t Just for Children
Storytelling is an underrated art, often dismissed as mere entertainment or something reserved for teaching kids values. But have you ever noticed how we adults still use storytelling to guide our lives?
Every Conversation Is a Story
The gossip we indulge in, the content we engage with on social media, the way we talk about people, places, and ideas—our tone, expressions, and framing—all of it becomes a story.
It reveals who we are: our likes, dislikes, philosophies, spiritual leanings, and passions.
Even the person who sells you groceries starts forming a story about who you are, based on the narratives you live and tell.
The Stories We Tell Shape Our Society
But it doesn’t stop at revealing who we are. The stories we share, whether publicly or privately, shape the worldviews of those listening, consciously or subconsciously.
A simple chat in a park or restaurant about a social issue gives passersby a glimpse into the kind of world their peers are helping create.
When One Narrative Dominates
When you hear only one kind of story, it leads to one kind of messaging. What you hear often becomes the path you follow, especially if you’re cut off from other perspectives.
Without exposure to diverse cultures and experiences, we may never realize that different problems have different solutions, shaped by entirely different mindsets and traditions.
The Hidden Influence of Popular Stories
This shapes society in subtle but powerful ways.
Stories influence:
How we raise children
Where and how they study
How far people move
How marriages happen
What caste or religion is “acceptable”
How beauty is defined
How we treat our partners
What jobs are considered respectable
How old people should live
What we expect from the government
They shape our moral compass, set thresholds for outrage, and influence how we express dissent.
Stories tell us whether we should only care for ourselves—or for our neighbor, too.
They don’t just shape our happiness, they define how much abuse is “acceptable.”
If the common narrative is about enduring suffering, speaking up becomes difficult unless your pain meets a certain threshold.
The Tone of a Story Matters
The impact of a story depends on its tone and delivery. Stories which are shared as obvious norms to be followed, quickly become the trend of the contemporary society. They are depicted as norms followed by the wise, rich and powerful of the society, so shouldn’t be questioned by common man.
Some stories are amplified through loudspeakers, repeated on social media, organically or through paid campaigns, aimed at normalizing certain ideas or instilling fear.
Others are spread quietly. These may be the stories that challenge the status quo, initiate cultural shifts, or simply deserve to be heard.
Stories worth attention
Maybe it’s the ones rooted in kindness, peace, and truth. The ones that don’t center power and ego but instead prioritize community, harmony, and creating space for everyone to thrive.
Who Gets to Be Heard?
If stories shape us so deeply, it’s worth asking: who gets to tell them? And who gets listened to?
Ironically, popular stories often glorify conformity. They celebrate tradition, patriarchy, and dogmatism, while we simultaneously idolize past rebels who didn’t conform.
History celebrates the antiheroes of their time, while the present vilifies today’s rebels.
So, why don’t we listen to the rebels of today? Why are they being shunned? Aren’t they the ones trying to wake us up from the Matrix?
If human and moral values are the mountaintop we aspire to, why are stories of violence, division, power struggles, and abuse interest us the most?
Stories from Childhood
If we look back, our ancient stories, even those about gods, often ask us to break norms in the name of compassion. Give up ego. Fight for those who can’t fight for themselves.
Sometimes, even show kindness to the enemy.
They teach us to choose right over wrong. And when faced with right vs. kind? Choose kind.
But they also warn us: don’t be kind at the cost of yourself. Don’t tolerate abuse in the name of goodness either.
These stories remind us: the power lies within us—to write our story, even if no one is listening.
Are Our Stories Making Us More Humane?
So we need to ask: are the stories we’re choosing to believe making us kinder and more humane—or simply repeating the traditional values of our ancestors, too scared or scary to question?
The Discrimination of Stories
Some people only want to hear one kind of story. They believe that denying all other perspectives makes their version more real. To them, their story is the absolute truth.
But stories asking for change are often judged by who tells them.
Is the storyteller “respectable”? Is the storyteller part of my social group? Are they acceptable by my peers?
Does their story fit my comfort zone?
If not, I won’t listen, because listening may require me to change. And change is uncomfortable.
The Story of Me
Stories have power. They touch our subconscious. They make us feel, even when we try not to. And those feelings demand reflection.
What if you hear a story from someone you don’t like, and it moves you? What if it makes you empathize?
That’s terrifying for some. It blurs the lines between good and bad, us and them.
We grew up with stories that never asked us to change. We were told to follow them, like characters who never questioned the script. Our beliefs were handed to us. And because we didn’t choose them, questioning them now feels like betrayal.
After all, we’re not gods or rebels—we’re “good people.” Raised not to be uncomfortable in the society that molded us.
So we deny the uncomfortable stories. We pretend they don’t exist. We don’t share them, no matter how powerful, because we fear being rejected. Or we fear feeling like hypocrites.
The story might force us to reassess our beliefs. And that’s hard.
What if we lose our place in our social circle?
What if we become the villain in someone else’s story?
What If the Story of Rejection Becomes Our Story?
What if they twist our truth and cast us as the demon?
What if we’re not allowed to share our side of the truth?
What if our children or descendants are humiliated because we dared to speak up?
Leap of Faith
But what if I believe in storytellers beyond my peers? What if stories transcend timelines?
What I am depends on the audience—good or bad, right or wrong, rebel or revolutionary.
Maybe I should trust the audience once. Trust their ability to hold space for my truth. Maybe they’re also tired of the same old stories, waiting for a new one.
A story where the protagonist dares to try a different ending.
What if you let go of fear and let destiny decide whether you’re remembered as a hero or a villain?
What if the world, if not today, then someday, uses your story to awaken others?
Aren’t we all standing on the shoulders of those who dared to write a different story?
Final Word
Maybe all that matters is giving your full self to at least one story, one where you are unapologetically you.
Think you’re not worthy of a story?
God may have written your destiny, but gave you the free will to shape its course.
If you weren’t worthy, why would nature bother keeping you alive?
The very fact that you’re here, reading this, means you have the power to change how your story ends.
The choice was always yours.
Maybe I’m the hero, the villain, the antihero, or even a silent spectator, in different stories.
But I owe it to myself to be the true protagonist in at least one.
The one that’s mine.