French sociologist Émile Durkheim made the profound argument that it is a community’s shared stories that defined a society; quite literally the stories constructed society. We are the stories we tell ourselves.
What does your story look like? PICTURE: Denise Jans/Unsplash
It follows, if you want to change society, change your meta-story.
It’s quite profound to consider how what I would call trash TV changes our society. Be they soap operas or reality TV. If these are the stories we tell ourselves – cheating, desire, selfishness – who do we become?
But there is good news. If we hold to an ideal story, it may one day become real. Sounds like a line in a prayer you might know, “Your Kingdom come, your will be done”. What is the big story that defines you?
Paul Clark’s musings can be heard on radio across Australia and at atthetop.org.au
