21. The story is not the territory (Or, stories as maps)

Today’s pod is coming to you from the messy middle of something I’ve been mulling over for a long time. Something I don’t have a tagline for yet, but that still feels worth sharing, in all its in-process, still-forming glory.

If there’s anything I believe in, it’s the power and necessity of creative expression. But I’m going to be talking this month about the limitations of story – the ways that turning our life experiences into stories can maybe keep us from actually living what we experience.

One way to think about the role of storytelling is that stories are maps – ways of navigating the stuff of life. And as maps, stories are representations of something bigger and deeper than any single narrative can encompass.

Or, to borrow a commonly used phrase: The map is not the territory.

This feels pretty self-evident… until you realize how deeply story maps are ingrained into the way you think about how your life is supposed to happen, and what kind of meaning you’re supposed to make out of what happens.

This month, let’s get real about navigating with story maps (and when it might be time to get a bit lost instead).

Writing praxis tip

The concept of story maps and how they are (or aren’t) serving you can cut pretty deep, as my personal example from the episode shows... but this tip is going to take a more gentle approach.

I’ve focused these prompts on exploring your creative life, but they could be used for any area that you’re feeling drawn to spending some time examining.