Narrating our lives

Barbara Hardy's view on stories and real life, the line between fantasy and reality, is interesting and true.

In An Approach Through Narrative Towards a Poetics of Fiction Hardy describes how narrative is used through the creation of stories.
Narrative- "is not to be regarded as an aesthetic invention used by artists to control, manipulate, and order experience, but as a primary act of mind transferred to art from life" (pg. 5).

We use narrative in our daily interactions, even during the night, while we sleep and dream. As discussed in class yesterday, life is the key inspiration to the art that surrounds us today, be it through literary works or paintings. And through those experiences being plastered where one can be free to see and take it in in their own interpretation, we start to emulate fantasy (which was a part of reality beforehand anyways).

Without narrative there would be no point to living. To quote, yet again, from Hardy: "In order to really live we make up stories about ourselves and others" (pg. 5). This creates a conflict between our false barriers of fantasy and reality because we cross back and forth from both constantly.

So imagination, fantasy, story-telling, is never really left behind in childhood. So what's with the stubbornness and determination to rid oneself of such "childish" thoughts once we enter into adulthood? There's no escaping it, it makes life more interesting anyways. Does it make one more mature to draw that line with a thick black permanent marker? Hardy theorizes a paradox with the act of reaching maturation: the paradox to be mature involves escape, non attachment to the self, which is perfected in death (pg. 6).