What is the shape of your story?

What is the shape of your story?

You may have read books or short stories from the American author and satirist Kurt Vonnegut - but did you know he began his career as an anthropologist?

Vonnegut made many contributions to literature throughout his career, but one of his most important contributions was rejected outright.

As a graduate student at the University of Chicago, Vonnegut wrote his master's thesis for anthropology on the notion that “stories have shapes which can be drawn on graph paper, and that the shape of a given society's stories is at least as interesting as the shape of its pots or spearheads."

Essentially, these graphs reveal that every story has a particular shape; many stories, in fact, share the same shape. These shapes can be found by tracing the ups and downs of the protagonist's journey—or "the emotional arc" of the story.

As individuals, we live many stories across a lifetime. These stories are also shaped by our culture, history, temperament, and fate.

At midlife, we often feel the call to self-author our life's story. We transition from "actor," dutifully playing the roles we were given (parent, partner, daughter, leader) to "author," shaping the arc of our life's narrative toward more fulfillment, purpose, and contribution.

Like with most things, the first step is to notice.

What has been the shape of your story?
How will you self-author the next chapter?

Image design: Maya Eilam