Identity is the story that is told about who we are.  Memory is the story we tell about how we got to be who we are.  Memory, like story, is the imposition of structure and significance on human experience.  Crafting memory means choosing what to leave out as much as what to include.  

Human beings experience the world in story.  As story, memories are not reality, but a way to think about reality.  As human beings, we think in story, we remember in story, we love in story, we hate in story, we dream in story, we learn in story, we work in story.  Even how we define and understand who we are and what a self is are acts of storytelling. 

© Salahub 2003