Exploring the Intersection of Wellbeing Literacy and Storying Methods
Exploring the Intersection of Wellbeing Literacy and Storying Methods
Rachel Colla, Paige Williams, and Lindsay Oades
ABSTRACT
Storying practices have a long and rich history of building shared understanding and new insights that can enable wellbeing. Stories are the currency of life; they are how we make sense of the world and share key life messages. Importantly, this practice of storying is ubiquitous across cultures and time. From oral traditions and cave art, to movies that move us to tears, and even on social media, stories have been used as a powerful means to teach social norms, develop empathy, and foster social cooperation. Indigenous cultures have used such practices since time immemorial, and many methods in qualitative research also draw on the richness of storying methods for contextual understanding. Wellbeing literacy, a newer field of inquiry, offers a new way to make sense of some of the mechanisms through which storying methods create generative insights that enable wellbeing. In this chapter, we explore the intersection of wellbeing literacy and participatory and arts-based story methods. We look at how these methods can allow us to build wellbeing literacy, creating a virtuous cycle at the nexus of research and practice.
Colla, Rachel & Williams, Paige & Oades, Lindsay. (2025). Exploring the Intersection of Wellbeing Literacy and Storying Methods. 10.4324/9781003644293-11.