Story Telling is something most humans relate to. From being told bedtime stories as kids to sharing your own over dinner once you grow up. Life is ultimately made up of these tales, waiting to be told.

The concept has existed since forever yet somehow it has gained a rapid momentum in the last few decades. Humans of Bombay, Terribly Tiny Tales, Tape a Tale are all thriving businesses run by millennials, based on the foundation of storytelling. Why is it, that all of a sudden humans have this urgent need to share their stories with the world? Have their stories evolved with time like fine wine to become true essence of wisdom that needs to be preached; or is it the world on the contrary that is asking for these stories from strangers to soak in the nostalgic feeling of their childhoods?

Bed time stories mostly involved the good vs. evil ideologies or a simple moral lesson be it about honesty, sharing or other such virtues, woven in a fictitious piece with characters to look up to or down upon. They were meant to teach us values that would then go on to be the foundation of our lives. What we hear and more often see (Thanks youtube!) now though, are not virtuous or vicious fragments, but rather a not so mundane episode from somebody’s mundane life. It may not have a high or a low, nor will it shed light on the negative or the positive. It’s merely a real incident from their real life that meant a lot to them and made them feel something.

F.E.E.L!

That is what modern day story telling is here for actually if you think about it. Just to make you feel.

Now you may wonder the baselessness of this logic, because after all we all have enough feelings of our own to tackle on a daily, if not an hourly basis. You are wrong though!

What we feel in this unfortunate fast paced unjust capitalist lifestyle is mostly superficial. Our connection to the most important feelings of love & loss and the joy & sorrow that they bring, in relation to immaterial things is now barely there. Of course we talk about the majority and are not stereotyping the generation: the line between immaterial and material is blurring for our generation and before we know it, we would be bawling over the loss of our iPhones way more than we bawl over the loss of our bff or bf.

(Fuck! That already is the case. Never mind. Too late!)

This blurred line though, has led humans to crave the need to get in touch with the emotions that used to come to them more naturally, but are now somewhat lost under all those branded layers we adorn and all that goes into getting to afford them at all!

But why are people sharing their stories with the world?

One word – Loneliness

(Kopal Khanna, founder of Tape a Tale agrees to this in her exclusive interview with BeBadass)

Loneliness is neither a new term nor a novel feeling, yet somehow it has claimed more victims in the recent years than it ever did in the entirety of it’s oxford dictionary existence. Loneliness can make you feel like you have no one to talk to or that nobody cares. This could be the key reason why there are so many books being written and pieces being performed. People want to share their story and feel heard. They want to connect and communicate which may seem like a daunting task to most in a time when the strongest bonds we share are those with our smartphones (and the chargers!). In this age where there is a constant debate over the fact that your social media followers are not really your friends, true friendship is not only hard to survive but also difficult come by. In such a situation perhaps a lonely soul makes do with what they can get, followers; and you will get a bunch today, if you can share a story that warms their hearts or even tickles their nerves.

It’s a quality that sounds like one only professionals are capable of exhibiting, but really it’s something that all humans are wired to display in order to bond with each other. The only trait required in narrating successfully and connecting with souls through your tale deeply, is not proficient public speaking, but honesty.

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