Storytelling in Preserving Family Legacies
- Tosha Phillips
- Mar 25
- 10 min read
Storytelling serves as a vital tool for preserving family legacies by fostering inter-generational connections, strengthening cultural heritage, and providing emotional healing, ultimately ensuring that personal histories are not lost to time. Storytelling in human societies is a very ancient tradition of human beginnings long ago even before writing. Stories of family, culture and traditions were various ways through drawing, dancing, orally, later in written form and in today’s age, even in electronic form through vlogs and blogs.
Personal and family stories are often shaped by selective memory and bias and can sometimes reinforce outdated cultural norms, prejudices, or negative family patterns. Some stories, particularly those involving trauma, loss, or family conflict, may be painful to share or hear. This can create emotional strain rather than healing, especially if the storyteller or listener is not prepared to process difficult emotions. With the rise of social media and short-form digital communication reducing attention spans, traditional storytelling is less engaging for younger generations. With more people documenting their lives through images and videos rather than words, oral storytelling may lose its significance. In today’s busy world, families may not prioritize storytelling, and younger generations may not show interest in family histories until much later in life. By then, valuable stories may be lost.
Storytelling to Preserve Cultural Continuity
Many different cultures share their stories to maintain cultural continuity. Maintaining cultural continuity can preserve that sense of belonging, comfort in traditions, the passing on of wisdom and lessons learned.
Cultural continuity is an important part of aiding individuals in their overall sense of self. It influences our values, beliefs, behaviors, and how we view the world. Understanding your cultural heritage can provide a sturdy foundation as you navigate through life’s various phases. Having a cultural connection to your family history not only strengthens your roots but also enriches your personal identity and your overall health.
Numerous articles from publications such as National Geographic and the National Collaboration Centre for Indigenous Health show this is especially of indigenous people, which I would assume due to the unfair colonization that was forced upon them between 1492-1800. In many circumstances they were forced to abandon their culture or face persecution. According to the National Library of Medicine; cultural continuity within indigenous communities has been identified with positive health outcomes that are achieved through ceremonies, inter-generational transmission of cultural knowledge, and creating a sense of belonging and cultural identity. Through this feeling of belonging and identity they are able to maintain cultural practices as part of healing and medicine, but also have a stronger self esteem and confidence in who they are rather than negative stereotypes indigenous people are often linked to, again what I believe is due to colonization many years ago.
Folklore in Storytelling
Sometimes we hear an "old wives' tale”, a colloquial expression referring to spurious or superstitious claims said to be passed down by older women to a younger generation. Such tales are considered superstition, folklore or unverified claims with exaggerated and/or inaccurate details. Old wives' tales often center on women's traditional concerns, such as pregnancy, puberty, social relations, health, herbalism and nutrition. But are they really tales? Like in the Disney movie, Brave; Meridah’s mother Elinor reminds us, “Legends are lessons, they ring with truth”. I believe there is more truth to some of these things than we give them credit for, and while the tale tied to it might be not exactly as it originated or details left out, I believe there are some truths to them if we do some digging. According to the Office of Science and Society at McGill University, “Some old wives’ tales are easy to dismiss while are more difficult to do so. And then there are those that aren’t old wives’ tales at all since they are actually true, thereby making them not "old wives' tales" to begin with.”
Some examples might be stories that people have shared about not waking a sleepwalker. This I can attest to firsthand! One night when I was about 13 I was having my friend sleepover and my mom wasn’t home and my older sister was home but sleeping. We lived in a secluded area and we thought we heard something so we went to my sisters room because we were scared and we immediately ended up screaming and running in fright from her because she was sitting up asleep and we woke her and she shot out of bed her eyes bulging and making really crazy noises. We ran out of there more scared of her than anything that was out in the yard. We huddled downstairs until my mom or brother got home later that night. According to McGill University, in 2011 a team of Italian researchers monitored the electrical activity of the brain using electroencephalography, and found that both wake-like and sleep-like brain patterns coexist at the same time. They hypothesize that sleep disorders involving unusual behaviors while asleep (also called parasomnia) could be due to an imbalance between these two states. One such parasomnia is sleep inertia, also known as sleep drunkenness, wherein following forced arousal, the cognitive impairment from sleep can remain for up to tens of minutes. During this period, the individual can be confused, impulsive, and even violent. It’s important to note that sleep drunkenness can occur anytime someone is woken from a deep sleep, whether they’re sleepwalking or not.
Evolution of Storytelling Today
As we discussed the many forms of historical storytelling through drawings of ancient times, dancing of the Hawaiian people, the legends and myths of the Irish, but what about in modern society? While some of this is still practiced today within culture groups, there are so many more ways to share information, stories, traditions and culture. Social media for one, it’s a love/hate thing for me personally; but it does give easy access to each other for easy sharing and communication. We have websites that can log your whole pregnancy or wedding planning. There are people who literally make a living sharing their life, their adventures, their culture through vlogging or blogging. There are now even books you can order with qr codes embedded so you can scan it with your phone and hear the voice of your mom or grandpa or whoever sharing their story that is being shared in the book. There are many ancestry sites that can connect generations of families, where you can see facts and documents and share details about one’s lives. I even came across a mini movie theater in the Portland Oregon airport where they do short films of people’s lives, sharing that person’s legacy. It is pretty amazing with today’s technology; our ability to share around the world.
Cultural Identity and Strengthening Family Bonds
According to the National Geographic article, “Storytelling and Cultural Traditions”; it is shared that people such as the Choctaw Native American Tribe focus on oral storytelling to share their creation and migration including lessons that are meant to preserve their history. Native Hawaiian storytelling was originally shared orally and grew also into song, chanting and dancing to not only entertain but share with the next generation about their behaviors, values and traditions. In many parts of Africa, the storyteller entertains after dinner; but in Western Africa; the article shares that the storyteller or griot is so much more than just an entertainer. They are the counselors to the kings; they are not only storytellers but genealogists, historians, ambassadors, and more. The seanchaí or Irish storytellers traveled from village to village, reciting ancient tales of wisdom and old myths especially about kings and heroes; as well as local news and happenings.
While not all storytelling is accurate or even true, that is least important. What is important is the reminder of one's heritage, to help them establish their identity in a world that often tries to tell us who we are. It is important to know yourself; you are so much more than the label the world puts on you. It helps bring cohesiveness to culture, passes down traditions, sharing lessons through various forms; prayer, chanting, dancing, song, myths, legends, religion, art and many other physical and verbal communications.
Storytelling can help strengthen the bond between generations, sharing personal and ancestral stories creates emotional closeness and a treasured experience for both the storyteller and the receiver and can help to guide future generations. Many families use storytelling to reinforce ethical and moral values; religion is one example of that.
The Influence of Elders in Legacy Storytelling
My family has always joked that I attract old men, but to be honest I think it’s because I will listen, and I love to hear their stories. And I get it, as family members we sometimes think oh my goodness do I have to really hear this again, they have told me that story a thousand times! But I think of how they must be feeling when their body or mind can’t do the things it used to do and how good it must feel to remember when they felt young and free and full of life; to be able to reminisce and laugh or smile about old times or someone special to them. There’s something about saying it outloud, sharing it.
According to an article in Psychology Todayresearchers from the University of Florida conducted a study based on a sample of 145 participants examining personal attitudes and life experiences with death. Their results reveal that although remembering can be painful, it can also bring comfort by connecting through a shared past (Bluck & Mroz, 2010).
Collective Healing Through Shared Stories
We have looked at positive impacts of storytelling; cultural continuity, shaping our identity and remembering or honoring loved ones. In addition to these benefits of storytelling, there are also many therapeutic benefits of narrative therapy or storytelling. It not only shares the past and helps us identify and often find purpose, but it also gives us the opportunity to change the narrative of our own personal lives. We have the opportunity to look at the stories that we are bound to and reshape our own as the remainder of our lives is still unwritten, at least from our worldly lens. For those stories not so compelling, it can sometimes help us find closure or healing or help us see our own resilience or the resilience of our ancestors. While at times this can be a long and emotional process there is evidence that narrative therapy can help in healing from the past.
To further define how narrative therapy works; Psychology Today explains that narrative therapy is a form of counseling that views people as separate from their problems and destructive behaviors. This allows clients to get some distance from the difficulty they face; this helps them to see how it might actually be helping or protecting them, more than it is hurting them. With this perspective, individuals feel more empowered to make changes in their thought patterns and behavior and “rewrite” their life story for a future that reflects who they really are, what they are capable of, and what their purpose is, separate from their problems. The events that occur over time in a person’s life are viewed as stories, some of which stand out as more significant or more fateful than others. These significant stories, usually stemming from negative events, can ultimately shape one’s identity. Beyond this identity, the narrative therapist views a client’s life as multitiered and full of possibilities that are just waiting to be discovered. The therapist does not act as the expert, but rather helps clients see how they are the experts regarding their own life and how they can uncover the dreams, values, goals, and skills that define who they are, separate from their problems. These are the buried stories that can be rewritten and woven into the ongoing and future stories of their lives.
According to Rockland Recovery & Behavioral Health in Sharon, MA narrative therapy recognizes that individuals are the experts on their own lives. Each individual possesses the knowledge and resources necessary to enact positive change and by working together with the therapist in a supportive and respectful environment, individuals can gain a greater sense of agency and control over their lives, leading to improved mental health outcomes such as empowerment, improved relationships, increased awareness, greater resilience, and especially useful for individuals who have experienced trauma, as it allows them to examine their experiences from a new perspective and develop a more empowering narrative.
In the book The Healing Power of Storytelling by Annie Brewster, MD she shares her own story in being diagnosed with MS and as a provider but as well as a patient, how the narrative is a key component to the story we identify with and the importance of feeling heard. She shares how it has changed not only her own story but how she can show up for her patients in a different way allowing them to share their stories and taking that needed time to aid in their healing process.
If interested, you can purchase this book on Amazon here:
Conclusion
While storytelling serves as a vital tool for preserving family legacies by fostering inter-generational connections and strengthening cultural heritage; it can also promote healing from our stories of the past, giving us the opportunity to change the narrative and can also be an integrative part of healing when done in a supportive and sensitive manner. Professional guidance, such as narrative therapy, can help navigate difficult topics in a way that promotes healing rather than distress.
While memories can be subjective, storytelling is more about the emotional and cultural essence of a legacy rather than strict historical accuracy. Combining oral narratives with written records, photographs, and digital archives can enhance credibility and although the medium of storytelling may change over time, the essence still remains, preserving the richness of legacy narratives. So create those intentional spaces for storytelling! Family story nights by the fire, recorded interviews, written memoirs, photo books, journaling, or maybe a compilation book of art, poems, projects, etc; ensuring that these stories are preserved before they are forgotten.
We all have a story to share in this lifetime, these stories are what carry on the traditions and memories of those people and times that remain important in our hearts and minds. I encourage you to preserve those memories so you can celebrate the lives you have all lived. Through stories, photos, however you wish; just do it. The good, the bad, the ugly; the triumphs and tears, the struggles and the joys; it's all part of your journey. I truly believe that we are all connected in this life and these stories, traditions, legacies and every choice we make, every contribution we make no matter how small can have a lasting effect on our life or another life.
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