The Intrinsic Power of Storytelling

When I was four years old, my favorite story was a Japanese folktale called Tsuru no Ongaeshi, loosely translated to “The Crane Returning the Favor” or “The Grateful Crane”. 

I still remember the sound of my mother’s voice narrating the tale in Japanese, the lilt and rhythm of the words, the delicious anticipation fluttering in my chest as she turned each page, and the vivid illustrations enchanting me in each scene.

There are different variations of the story but the one I know is as follows.

One day a poor farmer is out in the fields and spots a beautiful white crane on the ground. It is gravely injured with an arrow piercing one of its wings. Feeling sorry for it, the man removes the arrow and cleans the wound. The crane flies into the sky, circles him three times, and soars off into the distance. 

That night, a beautiful woman arrives at the farmer’s door. She says that she is there to be his wife. Surprised, he explains that he is too poor to support her. She shows him a small sack and says not to worry. I have plenty of rice for us. 

The man is confused but welcomes her in. As the days pass, they begin a happy life together and the rice bag mysteriously always remains full.

One day, she asks him to build her a weaving room. Once complete, she makes him promise to never look inside and then shuts herself in the room. Seven days later, the sound of weaving finally stops and she emerges and has lost a lot of weight. She hands him an extraordinarily beautiful cloth and tells him to sell it at the marketplace for a high price. 

That night, he returns elated because he sold the material for many coins.

His wife returns to the weaving room and the same process begins again. The man becomes more and more curious. What is she doing in there? How is she weaving this cloth without any thread?

Finally, he opens the forbidden door to see what she’s doing.

He doesn’t see the woman he knows.

Instead, he sees a huge, beautiful white crane. It is seated before a giant loom and plucks feathers from its own body and uses it as thread to weave cloth. 

Shocked, the man reels back and the crane realizes his presence.

She explains that she is the crane he saved and had entered his life to repay him for his help. She sadly tells him that because he has now seen her true form, she can no longer stay. And with that, she flies off into the night sky, never to be seen again.

As a child, the message of the story seemed simple: don’t break your promises.

But like all stories, the meaning transformed for me as the years passed. Later in life, as I struggled to heal my own wounds, the crane’s last words that she must leave because he’d seen her true self took on a different inflection. I interpreted it to mean that I should not allow people close to me, that those doors must always be tightly locked to prevent pain and protect my own vulnerability.

Now, those last words of the crane take on yet a different meaning. 

She did not leave because he broke his promise or crossed a boundary and saw her bleeding as she gave herself to the loom.

She left because she had completed what she set out to do. Her choice was not about him.

The crane left not to hide her truest self, but to honor it because it is so infinitely sacred.

Like so many stories, the tale’s impact was in its emotional resonance, the nuance and depth that speak not only of the individual human experience, but also of larger narratives and concepts relating to society, culture, and humanity.

Cultures all over the world have utilized storytelling tradition since the dawn of time to pass down knowledge, values, and wisdom, including lessons on social cooperation, justice, empathy, as well as gender equality. Not only have they helped to shape cultural identity, but these myths and legends still continue to resonate to this day.

Over the years, my interpretation of Tsuru no Ongaeshi changed as I changed. This is the same for any book or story we go back to re-read. What we understood as a four year old will not be what we see and understand as an adult. The words may not have changed…but we’ve changed.

This is because we perceive experience through stories. 

Whether it is an eye-opening adventure you heard as a child, a hilarious tale recounted by a good friend over a drink, an unsettling narrative on social media that you think about for days or weeks after, or an engrossing series or book that captivated you all night, stories have a profound and fundamental impact on us. They shape our understanding of the world and of ourselves, allow us to connect with one another, and examine what makes us fundamentally human. 

My own writing process is what I call “detangling” – a way of clarifying and pouring onto a page the convoluted mess of ideas, fragments, thoughts, inspirations, shadowy fears, and illuminations that occupy my daily self. 

Seeing what I wrote on the page allows me to uncover patterns, find solutions, and recognize fascinating intersections I didn’t realize existed. It allows me to gain greater insight on who I am and is a foundation upon which I can either pursue further exploration or choose a different course of action.

Stories serve as a catalyst for questioning and reflecting on our experiences, challenging us to cultivate empathy and acceptance not only for ourselves but – more importantly – for others. By learning how to tell our own stories with clarity and honesty, we naturally strengthen our communication skills and expand the lens by which we understand the internal complexities of our humanness as well as the larger scope of philosophy, values, community, society, and culture. 

Self-expression both requires and strengthens self-connection. Sharing our own stories has the marvelous effect of inspiring and empowering others on similar journeys to challenge their perceptions and explore their own narratives of awareness, growth, and individual expression.

In the same way our individual stories fuel human connection and solidarity, effective brand storytelling allows businesses to build a strong understanding of who they are while deepening their emotional connection with customers. 

Compelling, authentic brand narratives resonate with those who align and see themselves reflected within them. This not only fosters loyalty but also has the larger effect of incorporating the business into the fabric of their lives. 

A strong brand’s story echoes and remains, lingering in someone the same way the poignant moment the crane departed into the moonlight with bloodied feathers has stayed with me. 

A business that excels at storytelling will have an enduring impact on its audience.

As technology continues to exponentially evolve in ways we have yet to fathom, stories – and the humanity that drives them – will grow ever more important. In a sea of AI and machine -generated content, an individual or a brand’s unique voice and perspective in distilling and conveying their intrinsic values will be what sets them apart. 

Just as self-expression requires self-connection, a powerful brand story both emerges from and clarifies a better understanding of itself: who it stands for, what it values, why it exists, and how it wants to enhance the world.

In 2011, Pixar employee Emma Coats shared its “22 Rules of Storytelling.”

They’re a masterclass in story, psychology, and human connection.

Here are 7 gems:

🧵 pic.twitter.com/IoOMibkf5b

— Nathan Baugh (@nathanbaugh27) June 28, 2023

Here are 3 ways I would start:

1. Read broadly: Diverse Fiction

Fiction challenges us in ways nonfiction can’t. Reading fiction taps into deeper levels of self-awareness; nourishes creativity, imagination, and abstract thinking; heightens nuanced observation and sensitivity; cultivates greater degrees of empathy; and asks us to consider larger philosophical, ethical, or moral themes. 

Reading stories of diverse cultures and authors further challenges us to broaden our perspectives and integrate cultural differences, sensitivities, as well as viewpoints and experiences vastly different from our own.  

2. Active Listening and Empathy

Active listening and empathy are communication skills that should be taught in school; yet, they’ve been sorely neglected. 

By listening to the experiences and viewpoints of others and actively engaging in intelligent observation and reflection to understand why they think or feel that way, we not only learn how to sit with the discomfort of ideas that challenge our own paradigms, but we also develop a better understanding of the vast dimension that is the human experience.

3. Create, Create, Create

Learning comes from doing. The only way to learn how to tell a story is by creating one.

Yes, it will be awful and frustrating and painful at the beginning. But that is a universal truth – we all suck at the start of something. Accept it for what it is and keep creating. 

Creation is a fundamental element of life, a complex, multi-layered, beautiful process by which we express and honor our individual self and connect with others. 

It is profoundly human.

It is a process that develops and refines itself through practice. 

Move through the fear and create and create and create again.  

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