Information is not Transformation
I'm sure you all agree that we are blessed to live in the information age. All the information we need is at the tap of a few keys on our phones or lap tops. This helps us learn, make informed decisions, and make sense of our world. But there is a downside to having so much information.
We've become information addicts. We get our fix as soon as we wake up in the morning and turn on the computer. We have our phones by our side at every minute to be notified of whatever information we need, whether it's social media, the news, or entertainment. Try living without any new information streaming into your brain and see how you do. Do you think you could stop so easily?
As a counselor, I've worked with many teens, and found the best thing about working with them was that they, unlike a lot of us adults, are malleable. For instance, if you talk at them with information about the dangers of alcohol or drugs, we all know what they do. They shut down. So if you want to reach them you have to find other ways. When trying to get my teens to understand, it wasn't showing them documentaries that helped them, it was dramatized enactments of the consequences of what would happen from continuing their destructive habits. They knew the enactments weren't real, but because they related to it, they absorbed the story and digested the message, despite their resistance.
In other words, when we are called by story, we pause whatever we are thinking or doing to ask one of life's most important questions: what happens next? Suddenly we care. Recent research suggests that once a reader is in such an "experience-taking" state, they put aside their own identity, lose themselves in the story, and identify with the character until the thoughts, beliefs and emotions of the character are taken on as if they are their own. Neuroscience research further indicates that when reading a story, different brain regions collaborate to create an experience that is much like imagining a real life, vivid event.
We've become information addicts. We get our fix as soon as we wake up in the morning and turn on the computer. We have our phones by our side at every minute to be notified of whatever information we need, whether it's social media, the news, or entertainment. Try living without any new information streaming into your brain and see how you do. Do you think you could stop so easily?
As a counselor, I've worked with many teens, and found the best thing about working with them was that they, unlike a lot of us adults, are malleable. For instance, if you talk at them with information about the dangers of alcohol or drugs, we all know what they do. They shut down. So if you want to reach them you have to find other ways. When trying to get my teens to understand, it wasn't showing them documentaries that helped them, it was dramatized enactments of the consequences of what would happen from continuing their destructive habits. They knew the enactments weren't real, but because they related to it, they absorbed the story and digested the message, despite their resistance.
In other words, when we are called by story, we pause whatever we are thinking or doing to ask one of life's most important questions: what happens next? Suddenly we care. Recent research suggests that once a reader is in such an "experience-taking" state, they put aside their own identity, lose themselves in the story, and identify with the character until the thoughts, beliefs and emotions of the character are taken on as if they are their own. Neuroscience research further indicates that when reading a story, different brain regions collaborate to create an experience that is much like imagining a real life, vivid event.
This is the transformative power of story. And the magic! Suddenly we are operating from our hearts.
And yet when it comes to self-help and the personal transformation movement, our choices are mainly self-help books and documentaries with very little story or magic. So many just talk at us. Of course the right information is extremely important, but when it comes to transformation, information alone doesn't cut it. Information is not transformation.
No matter how well written or visually appealing, the How-to process doesn't encourage transformation since the information often doesn't become processed or internalized emotionally. Just like the teens, when given too much information, we simply shut down!
In our information age, experts abound to the point its now become a How-to world, with bullet points and 7 steps to this, 10 steps to that, etc. Indeed, it's the opposite of the hero's journey. On the hero's journey, it's your heart, experience, and intuition that guide you, not some How-to expert. Story, and particularly the hero's journey, reminds us that life is about learning to trust in ourselves, and discovering our own journey.
And yet when it comes to self-help and the personal transformation movement, our choices are mainly self-help books and documentaries with very little story or magic. So many just talk at us. Of course the right information is extremely important, but when it comes to transformation, information alone doesn't cut it. Information is not transformation.
No matter how well written or visually appealing, the How-to process doesn't encourage transformation since the information often doesn't become processed or internalized emotionally. Just like the teens, when given too much information, we simply shut down!
In our information age, experts abound to the point its now become a How-to world, with bullet points and 7 steps to this, 10 steps to that, etc. Indeed, it's the opposite of the hero's journey. On the hero's journey, it's your heart, experience, and intuition that guide you, not some How-to expert. Story, and particularly the hero's journey, reminds us that life is about learning to trust in ourselves, and discovering our own journey.
