Our Stories Mature as We Evolve

     "sociologist A. W. Frank states that in the end-of-life care, spirituality & religion merge in story-telling, in other words, narratives. Frank offers three types of narratives (restoration, chaos and quest). The first type of narrative, restoration, is preferred by the recently ill or medical professionals with a dominant storyline of becoming ill, but restoring health (with a remedy). Conversely, chaos stories lack a sequence, as well as a ‘proper’ ending, and represent human vulnerability and the impotence of modern medicine. Quest storytelling, unlike the aforementioned two, is an attempt to utilize or gain from illness experiences."

       Oshita D, Hattori K, Iwakuma M. A Buddhist-based meditation practice for care and healing: an introduction and its application. Int J Nurs Pract 2013; 19 Suppl 2: 15-23.

     Restoration narratives suggest a 'narrative focus of attention', where self-concern (self-absorption, egocentricity) is central, there's another attempt at putting back the pieces 'the way they used to be', and habitual self-talk is now spoken out loud.
     Chaos narratives suggest liminality, the end of the 'illusion of control', facing reality. See: http://www.johnlovas.com/search?q=liminality

     Quest narratives suggest "reassimilation" see: http://www.johnlovas.com/2013/06/liminality-insight-into-emptiness.html that phase in Joseph Campbell's "hero's journey" wherein the hero archetype crosses the threshold: commits to leaving "the Ordinary World and enters a new region or condition with unfamiliar rules and values." http://www.thewritersjourney.com/hero%27s_journey.htm a shift from egocentric to a larger, more holistic way of being.

     Wise people intentionally evolve throughout life instead of endlessly postponing vital growth.

Fall colors in Halifax, Nova Scotia, earlier this week.