When I was working on my M.A. in humanities in the 1980s, the idea that Life Follows Art was commonly discussed at the University of Texas. Since then I have often wondered about this idea and its correlation with the power of story.
I wrote my thesis on Joseph Campbell, author, mythologist, and anthropologist, who had much to say about how Life Follows Art and the power of story. Also, the storyteller, Barbara Griffin says: “Stories communicate an experience, not through reason and realism, but through the power of the senses and the imagination. This communication penetrates deeply into the unconscious which in turn will offer truths to our conscious lives.” If I had to pick only one reason to explain why stories are powerful, I would have to say: Stories are powerful because they dive deep into the unconscious mind where the human spirit lives, and it is there that the power of story explodes. Why is this important?
Stories give our children lessons that are sometimes hidden in its message. Bambi: Her mother is killed and she becomes an orphan. Orphan stories are popular since one message is that a child can survive without parents to guide them. The story of Peter Pan is about never growing up; a whole psychology is within this story and now there is a syndrome: The Peter Pan syndrome that speaks of men who never grow up. Stories inform our human experience and characterize the people in our lives.
Joseph Campbell said that the gods of our modern world are the stars in our movies. The meaning of Life Follows Art is that we hear a story, see a movie, or read a book, and this influences the way we behave and what we think.
Stories are powerful because they are imbedded in our unconscious mind like an earworm. And because Life Follows Art, we don’t always get to choose what we think or what we do because of the “earworm” found in story and imbedded in our unconsciousness mind; and we don’t even know it’s there!
Griffin, Barbara, The Storyteller Journal: A Guidebook for Story Research and Learning. 1990 Pg. 3.
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