Life is Defined by the Past

We Live by: Personal Myths... by Dan P. McAdams.

This whole story was written by McAdams, who is a personality psychologist. His job and his purpose is to try and discover why people are who they say and act as they are. In order for him to achieve this he listens to people's stories and from there figures out how that past event might have effected their current situation/life. The one lady that is discussed in this research of his is Margaret Sands and at the age of 35, had went cross country with her daughter on a controversial mission of personal benefit. They went to an abandoned chapel where Margaret went for 5 horrific years for school. She says how she was beaten and humiliated, so when she went back to the chapel she cursed at it and destroyed as much as she saw fit. When she finished she saw a great accomplishment; what McAdams stated was that this
story had changed her and part of her life. He also said that this "personal myth" was what gave her no real foundation on life and by going back to perform her other "personal myth" it gave her more strength and a better sense that everything would be better. McAdams continues in his story to talk more about her "myths" and how they gave her the point of view on life.

Thoughts and What I Learned

After all that is said in this story of myths and how they shape a person and that life, I can say that all of this is not far fetched at all. When they say people can not change I think that this psychologist proves that theory wrong and that just by an event it will change a whole person. Just by looking at his "subject" it shows that by and through different stories and actions one can change their outlook on life and themselves. Also the whole theory that he has, about actions making a person is very neat to read and look at. It is especially neat to see it from the other side of the talking, instead of hearing the stories from the specific person we hear it and see the analysis from a specialist. This story, I believe, was better and much more interesting then the story about memoirs and trying to write one.