The only thing that kept me going was stories. Stories are hope. — Neil Gaiman

The only thing that kept me going was stories. Stories are hope.

Author: Neil Gaiman

Insight: We rarely think of stories as survival tools, but they genuinely are. When life feels overwhelming or pointless, a good story—whether it's a book, a film, or even just something a friend tells you over coffee—can quietly shift how you see things. It reminds you that there are other worlds, other possibilities, other ways things could unfold. That's not escapism in a weak sense; it's actually how humans process hope. We can't manufacture optimism from thin air, but we can borrow it from narratives that show us struggle followed by meaning or transformation. What's sneaky about this idea is how it works in both directions. Stories aren't just about distant characters—they're how we make sense of our own lives too. When you're stuck in a difficult period, telling yourself a story about it (not lying to yourself, but finding the actual narrative thread) changes how you move through it. You go from "this is just happening to me" to "this is a chapter I'm going through." That shift might seem small, but it's the difference between feeling trapped and feeling like you're part of something with forward momentum.