Films often get lodged in categories on streaming services such as “romantic comedy,” “science fiction,” or “documentary.” Why? These categories help the customer anticipate instantly what they will experience if they make that choice.
In his wonderful book The Creative Act, Rick Rubin observes that “We have stories about ourselves, and those are not who we are.” What does Rubin mean?
As with films, we often slide ourselves into a story because it’s expedient and habitual.
The danger is these stories can define who we are and may not be true. In other words, the stories of our childhood don’t necessarily define us; stories of our failures don’t define us; stories of our emotional struggles don’t define Us.
One way to increase our happiness is to prime it. What does that mean? Studies show the first thing that comes to mind, or that we are told, often sticks and is hard to dislodge. This is true about people, films, products, and ourselves.
What is a happy story in your life? What if you started the day remembering that story – you primed your day with it – and told yourself you are a happy person in a happy story.
No doubt you have other stories, but the point is, we have the ability to choose the stories we want to watch and the stories we tell about ourselves.
On Emotions 