As I rolled over to turn off my radio, my mom entered my room like she typically did to wake me up. This time, however, she was crying and I could tell she had been for a while. I immediately asked what happened as she walked over, curious as to why she had been crying so much. She gently sat down on my bed, her tears started to fall quicker and she seemed heart-broken. She looked at me with longing eyes and with a shaky voice said: “I’m so sorry Tatyana, no one should ever have to go through this”. As soon as she said my name, I knew something was terribly wrong and my stomach dropped. I got the earth-shattering news no child should ever hear in their innocent years. That a teammate, classmate, and friend had passed away. That my friend Shayne was simply just trying to get home. Just riding his bike across the street and got hit by a seventeen-year-old female that couldn’t wait until she was home to send a text message to her friends. My heart broke. I didn’t know how to react. I just stared at my mom, tears streaming down my face hoping it was all just a bad dream. It was the first time in my life that I fully realized and understood what pain and loss felt like. Ever since that morning, my life story has matured and evolved faster than most children my age. I interpret a life story is a metaphor that is used to help people get through tough life events and to demonstrate how an individual has grown throughout their life.
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Throughout life, you always set goals for yourself, achieve the goals, and continue aiming for something bigger and better. You climb steep mountains, trek through deep valleys and grow from your adventures. Humans often use metaphors to mentally help each other overcome these hills and valleys with the vision of how life is a story. This metaphor is considered controversial, especially between two opposing authors. Julie Beck, the author of “Life’s Stories”, argues how life is a story and each individual is the narrator to their own stories. She believes that these life stories create who you are as a person and how you grow throughout life, displaying your personality. Beck argues that “Life stories do not simply reflect personality. They are personality…”. Life stories are derived from each individual’s brain, being extracted with the set of emotions tied along to it. They show the growth and personality associated with the memories being shared.
Galen Strawson, on the other hand, wrote “I am not a Story” which argues how individuals either choose to have their life as a story or it is not. Galen believes that a person is either a story creator or not at all. He claims “[Self-narration] is false – false that everyone stories themselves, and false that it’s always a good thing”. Personally, I believe people choose to say their lives are a story but this is just purely a metaphor. Our lives are not stories but they are like a story, having an introduction, rising climax, climax, downfall, and conclusion. Creating the metaphor that every life is a story gives people a commonality they all can relate to. It helps ease their minds with the situations they’re going through and the term “this is just a rough patch, needed for the greater outcome or climax” arose from it.
Life is full of mysteries, surprises and an array of emotions. You never know what could happen next and you just have to embrace it all. You grow from your mistakes, learn from past experiences and eventually, you’ve created your “life story”. All the little memories from childhood all the way up to retirement creates the person you are before you pass away. It creates your reaction to events, your personality, and what you cherish in life. The college has taught me more about my own life story whereas the death of my friend Shayne was the beginning of who I was starting to become. I have made friends for life in college despite the fact that some of them I may never see some of them again. My friend Patrick, for example, has a completely different life story than mine. He has made the decision to withdraw from the University of New England to pursue his dream of becoming a firefighter in New York City. How he was raised and his community has influenced him and his actions for becoming a firefighter. He talks about it as, “It’s not a passion, it’s a lifestyle”. Many generations of men leading up to Patrick have been firefighters so to him, it was his a no brainer to become one too.
Everyone is raised differently based on their surrounding community and families which is why everyone has their own unique life story. When my friend Shayne passed away, that created the key starting points of my life story. He taught me strength, courage and to choose nothing but happiness. His smile and personality will never be forgotten and I am grateful to of known him. Because I was introduced to the feeling of loss early on in life, I was also taught to enjoy my life to the fullest and to cherish life itself. My life story is purely a metaphor to explain where I am today, and that has helped me grow and appreciate how far I have come today.
Work Cited:
Beck, Julie. “The Story of Your Life.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 10 Aug. 2015, www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/08/life-stories-narrative-psychology-redemption-mental-health/400796/.
Strawson, Galen. “Let’s Ditch the Dangerous Idea That Life Is a Story – Galen Strawson | Aeon Essays.” Aeon, Aeon, 5 Apr. 2019, aeon.co/essays/let-s-ditch-the-dangerous-idea-that-life-is-a-story.
Greenhouse, Pat. “16-Year-Old Was Driving Car That Struck, Killed Bicyclist, 13, in Hopkinton – The Boston Globe.” BostonGlobe.com, 19 Sept. 2013, www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/09/19/year-old-was-driving-car-that-struck-killed-bicyclist-hopkinton/man5CT4d2eteVb7UYWwVGL/story.html.
Markovich, Tatyana, director. It’s Not Just a Passion, It’s a Lifestyle. YouTube, YouTube, 21 Mar. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzloCM8v3_Y&t=64s.
