self-narrative
One's own tale
Self-narrative is the story a person constructs about their own life—the internal account that organizes experiences, memories, and identity into a coherent plot.
Psychologists use the term to describe how people make sense of who they are and how they came to be: Her self-narrative centered on overcoming childhood poverty.
The concept suggests that identity is partly a story we tell ourselves, subject to revision as we reinterpret the past.
Written personal recollection
- chronicleOrdered historical record
- diaryPersonal daily record
- journalRecord of daily events
- testimonySworn statement as evidence
confession · recollection · reminiscence · retrospective · vita · anecdote · vignette · episode
Assumed public identity
- individualityUnique personal character
- personhoodStatus as a person
- authenticityQuality of being genuine
- subjectivityPersonal viewpoint coloring perception
Interpreting life's events personally
- coherenceLogical internal consistency
- continuityUninterrupted progression or coherence
- agencyPower to act
- scriptWritten words for performance
memory · mentalization · internalization · psychodynamics · cognition · reconstruction · reframing · interpretation
Curved line segment
- trajectoryPath of moving object
- odysseyExtended adventurous journey
- pilgrimageReligious journey to shrine
- questSeeking journey for something
passage · progression · chapter · milestone · transition · transformation · development · growth
Sustained reflective attention
- mindfulnessAwareness of the present
- meditationFocused attention practice
- ruminationProlonged, repetitive thinking
- solitudeState of being alone
memoir
Written personal recollection
testimony · confession · recollection · reminiscence · retrospective · vita · anecdote · vignette · episode · tale
persona
Assumed public identity
- individualityUnique personal character
- personhoodStatus as a person
- authenticityQuality of being genuine
subjectivity · distinctiveness · uniqueness · character · ego
meaning-making
Interpreting life's events personally
- coherenceLogical internal consistency
- continuityUninterrupted progression or coherence
- agencyPower to act
script · memory · mentalization · internalization · psychodynamics · cognition · reconstruction · reframing · interpretation
arc
Curved line segment
- trajectoryPath of moving object
- odysseyExtended adventurous journey
- pilgrimageReligious journey to shrine
quest · passage · progression · chapter · milestone · transition · transformation · development · growth · evolution
contemplation
Sustained reflective attention
- mindfulnessAwareness of the present
- meditationFocused attention practice
- ruminationProlonged, repetitive thinking
- memoirsmemoir, memoirs, autobiography, autobiographies, life story
- self-conceptpersonal identity, identity formation, persona, individuality
- autofictionautobiographical novel, fictionalized memoir
self-narrativebiography
Written life account
official record · obituary · case history · case study · profile
self-narrativeempirical data
Facts from direct experience
public record · raw data · vital statistics · medical record · event log
self, narrative, narrator, selfless, narrate, narration, narrating, narrated, selfhood