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Key points
- Three basic narrative patterns define the stories of our lives: progressive, regressive, and stability.
- The losses, deprivations, and uncertainties of Covid have significantly challenged our supportive self narratives.
- We can’t choose the times we live in, but we can choose which events to emphasize in the stories of the self.
Narrative psychology emphasizes the storied nature of our lives. We don’t choose the times we live in, but we can choose the stories that define the self. To break away from a pessimistic outlook, for example, we can select more encouraging events to include in the stories of the self. Instead of emphasizing setbacks and deprivations, we can retrieve and revive memories of comforts and accomplishments, and use these memories to construct different self stories. We can choose which memories to retrieve and think about, which ones to re-interpret, and which ones to let go of, like kites.
In this way, we redefine our expectations and the trajectory of our current lives. This is not self-deception or denial. It’s narrative repair.
Narrative Patterns
The three basic narrative patterns are progressive, regressive, and stability. With a progressive narrative, we evaluate our lives as improving, approaching a desired goal. We feel stronger, our lives are getting better, we are succeeding.
A regressive narrative is one with worsening conditions. We are growing lonelier, our health is deteriorating, our professional prospects are diminishing.
A stability narrative connects events that are evaluated in similar ways. Our life is about the same now as it was in the past, and it will continue that way.
These three different narrative patterns then combine to create archetypal story forms.
One main form is tragedy. With tragedy, the storyline ends with a downward, regressive narrative. It can begin with a succession of ups and downs before the final fall or it can be one long slide downhill. Classically defined, tragedy is a progressive narrative to a high plateau that then ends with a steep downfall – someone in a lofty position brought low.
Another main form is comedy, which is a story that ends with an upward, progressive narrative. Classically defined, a comedy doesn’t need to be funny, it just needs to end with an upward trajectory – and the expectation of maintaining the new, higher level. If the progressive narrative is expected to reach a plateau of stability, that leads to a happily-ever-after story or, more likely, contented-ever-after.
The Shakespearean title that best states the requirement of a comedy is All’s Well That Ends Well. Had Romeo and Juliet ended with a marriage between the eponymous protagonists, it would have been a comedy, instead of one of the great romantic tragedies.
Seasoned Stories
The seasons of the year are each associated with different forms of stories. Autumn is tragedy, the time when green turns to brown and plants wither and die. Spring is comedy, with rebirth and progression—brown changing to green, plants beginning to grow, animals coming out of hibernation. Winter is satire, a time of wintry dystopias and analytical reflection. Summer is romance. The 2009 movie 500 Days of Summer includes that story form directly in the title.
The Covid Narrative
For hundreds of thousands of families in this country, Covid provided an unfortunate regressive narrative. For most of us, Covid deposited us in a stability narrative. The overall pandemic began with a regressive trajectory, which was followed by a stability narrative; a lower plateau, often referred to as “the new normal.”
Our outlook in 2020 and 2021 depended to a large extent on where we placed our focus: the regressive narrative that started with the pre-pandemic normal or the current stability narrative. Focusing on our losses and deprivations placed us in a tragedy. A fall from a higher plateau. Focusing on managing the lower stability narrative wasn’t a tragedy, but it was still difficult because we were living in the middle of a story, not knowing the ending. Continuing uncertainty creates neither comedy nor tragedy. For this, satire is the most appropriate seasonal form.
As it turned out, the reality of Covid over the past two years mapped directly onto season-based narratives. Late autumn into winter brought on increased Covid cases and deaths, whereas spring led to a lessening of cases and deaths, showing growth and potential.
Many of us are now expecting improving conditions that will lead to a higher plateau. If that comes to pass, these conditions will encourage a progressive narrative.
Documenting the Changing Times
In general, when uncertainty about loss gives way to improvement, we tend to forget the torment of the unforeseen. Looking back, recovery is thought of as having been inevitable, when that’s not the way we experienced it at the time. We should embrace improved conditions, but if we want to remember with clarity, we need to record deprivations and uncertainties as they are occurring. Such a record supports more accurate memory, while also providing a vivid foundation for a progressive narrative following these times.
