Why do we want to share our stories with others?

I thought I was a private person, until I started to blog. I have always liked writing. #Writing has been and still is my #salvation. I write, when I am angry, happy, hurt, sad, etc. Whatever emotions I feel, I write them down and that made me feel better. I can honestly say, writing gives me the same kind of relief as crying.  I write because I would not know who I would be without it. I would be lost. Writing is my choice of communication to the world around me and to #God. 

We often share stories, news, and information with the people around us. We forward online articles to our friends, share stories with our co-workers, and pass along rumors to our neighbors. We have been sharing #information for thousands of years, and the advent of social #technologies like texting, Facebook, and other social media sites has only made it faster and easier to share content with others. But, I still wonder where do these need to share comes from. Why do we want to share our stories? Why do we share certain part of our stories but not others? What is this thing inside of us that is driving us to want to share our truth with the world? Why Do We Tell Stories?

Humans are #social animals. Story telling is how we stay connected to each other. The way we communicate and why we communicate might be different, but the need is still the same. Here are some of the reasons: For some, Storytelling means teaching, taking the lessons they've learned and relaying them to others. #Storytelling means sharing their own personal experiences and letting others be enlightened through them, or sharing what they've learned about history. Storytelling means making up fantastical fables that illustrate truth metaphorically. 

We have always shared our stories #verbally, with those in our extended family, with our friends, and tribes.  Before mass media or technology, our primary form of #entertainment and communication was talking to one another. Our ancestors, used to sit around fire and tell stories to each other. Most of their traditions and secrets passed from one generation to the next verbally. Its how people, have always been connected with one another. Men and women have been telling each other stories over camp-fires, in pubs, around wells, while making food or making quilts, etc for thousands of years.

Over the years, society has changed. We no longer sit around with our extended family, friend or neighbors, we spend less #face-to-face time and more mediated communication, yet, our need to hear or tell stories has not changed. However the way we fulfill that need has changed.

We have largely replaced personal communication with technological communication. We maintain our #friendships through email and text messaging and cell phones. We have relationships with the characters on our TV shows; with the radio hosts we enjoy; with the blogs we read; with our favorite newspaper columnists; and of course, with our favorite book authors.

I think, our need is not just about writing and publishing.  We want to be #heard. To be #known and #understood. And we want to know and understand others. I think the #desire to write and publish books is simply an extension of our very #humanness