Episode 41: Why Humans Need Stories

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I’ve been thinking a lot about stories lately.

Not just books, movies, or television shows, but the role stories play in our everyday lives. The more I reflect on it, the more convinced I become that stories are one of the most important tools humans have ever created. We use them to teach, connect, remember, and make sense of experiences that would otherwise feel random or disconnected.

This realization became especially clear to me over the last few months as I navigated a significant transition in my own life.

The Page Turn I Didn’t See Coming

After spending four years in Automotive, I made the decision to accept a new opportunity. What made the decision difficult wasn’t dissatisfaction or frustration. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I cared deeply about the work, the people, and the culture we had built together. Over those four years, I had the opportunity to watch leaders grow, employees develop confidence, and positive changes take root throughout the organization.

It was a chapter of my life that mattered, which made turning the page both exciting and emotional.

The interesting thing is that the transition didn’t begin with some dramatic life event. It started with a simple LinkedIn message from a recruiter.

At the time, it felt ordinary.

Looking back, it feels anything but ordinary.

“Some of life’s biggest turning points arrive looking completely ordinary.”

That realization led me to think about how many life-changing moments enter our lives quietly. We often imagine major decisions arriving with certainty and clarity. In reality, they usually show up disguised as conversations, opportunities, introductions, or seemingly insignificant choices.

Only later do we realize we were standing at a crossroads.

Choose Your Own Adventure

As I reflected on this experience, I found myself thinking about the Choose Your Own Adventure books I loved as a child.

If you grew up reading them, you probably remember the excitement of reaching a decision point in the story. One choice would send you down one path while another would lead somewhere completely different. Every decision changed the adventure.

At the time, I thought those books were simply entertaining.

Now I think they were teaching something much deeper about life.

The longer I live, the more I realize that our lives are filled with moments just like that. Most of us can point to a handful of decisions that quietly changed everything. A relationship that began with a conversation. A career opportunity that appeared unexpectedly. A move to a new city. A chance taken without any guarantee of success.

The challenge is that we rarely recognize those moments while we’re living them.

We only understand their significance when we look backward and connect the dots.

The Original Campfire

When I think about storytelling, I often picture people gathered around a fire thousands of years ago.

Long before there were podcasts, books, universities, or search engines, people shared what they had learned through stories. They talked about dangerous trails, difficult winters, mistakes they hoped others could avoid, and discoveries that made life a little easier.

Through storytelling, experience could be passed from one person to another.

“In many ways, stories were humanity’s first technology.”

Stories allowed knowledge to travel without requiring every person to learn every lesson firsthand. They helped each generation begin a little wiser than the one before it.

That may be why storytelling has survived every technological advancement we’ve ever created.

Although our campfires look different today, we’re still doing the same thing.

We gather around dinner tables. We listen to podcasts during our commute. We read books before bed. We share experiences with friends over coffee. Every one of those interactions is an opportunity to learn from someone else’s journey.

The fire changed.

The storytelling remained.

We Borrow Maps From Each Other

When I was considering my own career transition, I found myself reflecting on stories from people who had taken risks, embraced new opportunities, and entered unfamiliar chapters of their lives.

I wasn’t looking for someone to make the decision for me.

I was looking for perspective.

I was looking for reassurance that uncertainty is a normal part of growth.

In a way, I was borrowing maps.

That’s one of the most valuable functions stories serve. They don’t provide exact directions, but they help us understand the terrain ahead. They remind us that other people have faced uncertainty, doubt, excitement, and fear before us.

Their experiences become guideposts.

Their stories become maps.

“We often need to hear someone else’s story before we can imagine ourselves living our own.”

Stories expand our understanding of what’s possible. They allow us to learn from experiences we’ve never personally had and encourage us to consider paths we might otherwise overlook.

Information Gives Us Facts. Stories Give Us Meaning.

Perhaps the greatest mystery is not why humans tell stories, but why we continue to need them in an age where information is more accessible than ever.

I think the answer is simple.

Information gives us facts.

Stories give us meaning.

Facts can tell us what happened. Stories help us understand why it mattered.

That’s why we don’t remember life as a collection of random Tuesdays and routine commutes. We remember chapters, turning points, relationships, lessons, and moments when something changed.

Our minds naturally organize experiences into stories because stories help us understand where we’ve been and how we got here.

The Story Continues

As I’ve settled into this new chapter, I’ve found myself reflecting less on the specific decisions that brought me here and more on the larger story they represent.

The bookstore is still part of my life.

Writing is still part of my life.

Relationships from previous chapters remain important.

The bridge between chapters never disappeared.

The story simply continued in a new direction.

Maybe that’s another lesson stories teach us.

Life is rarely about endings.

More often, it’s about transitions.

One chapter leads to another. One decision creates new possibilities. One page turn opens the door to experiences we never could have predicted.

“The story didn’t restart. It continued.”

And perhaps that’s why humans need stories.

Stories help us understand where we’ve been. They help us imagine where we might go next. Most importantly, they remind us that none of us are navigating this adventure alone.

Every story shared around a campfire, a dinner table, a podcast microphone, or a conversation between friends carries the possibility of helping someone else make sense of their own journey.

That’s a remarkable thing when you stop and think about it.

A simple story has the power to change the way someone sees their life.

And that may be humanity’s greatest adventure of all.

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