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Early in Dan Siegel’s career as a neuroscientist, he sought to find links between the limitless complexity of the physical human brain, and the subjective life of the mind, heart, soul and spirit.  He experienced an epiphany when he came across “attachment” research—a large amount of empirical data showing that a young child’s sense of security, safety, and well-being depends largely on the quality of her relationship with her primary caregivers.   

Especially important to Siegel was a study that showed the ability of adults to articulate their childhood experiences in a coherent, emotionally rich manner is a reliable predictor what sort of parents they will become. Those who were able to make sense of their lives, no matter how good or bad those lives had been, were most able to connect with their own children.

The attachment research clearly shows that fate (having less-than-perfect parents) does not equal destiny. ‘If you can make sense of your story, you can change it,’ says Siegel.

This resonated with me. The grand narrative of Christianity functions as a means of ‘making sense of our own stories’. It provides those who believe it with foundation and direction and a vision of life that takes us well beyond our own smallness and limitations. It’s a story of origins, a story about what it is to be human, a story that explains how the world is like it is, and where it's all headed. Vitally, it is a story that finds a place for every individual regardless of where they have come from or how their life has played out.

‘I can only answer the question “What am I to do?”’, says philosopher Alasdair Macintyre, if I can answer the prior question, “Of what story or stories do I find myself a part?”' All of us live by one story or another that provides the architecture of our lives and within which ‘we live and move and have our being.’ Things like the happiness conference help us to consider just how coherent and compelling those stories are.


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Simon Smart | Thursday, May 28, 2009 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink