A branch called ‘narrative psychology’ has emerged that looks at how we use stories to make sense of our lives: rather than think of the events that happen in our lives as unconnected dots, we join the dots into stories that not only reflect who we are, but also show how we’d like to think of ourselves.

This ability to construct narrative is more than just a skill we’ve managed to master, it’s become our very means of interpreting reality. Similar to our instinct for learning language, researchers have observed an almost universal inclination in children for absorbing and creating narrative. And our personal identities can be seen as the most intr

Maybe there’s no creator and no cosmic plan. Maybe our existence is just a fluke, after millions of years of blind fumbling. But at least we’re not alone. We have each other.