In this episode, storyteller and podcast host Hillary Rea joins Jenny Wise for a deep dive into the purpose of storytelling—and how it’s been distorted by digital culture. Together, they explore the growing pressure to narrate every moment of life, package it, and monetize it—often at the cost of truly living it.

From therapy rooms to influencer feeds, story is everywhere. But when storytelling becomes performance or branding, it can trap people in false or premature narratives that disconnect them from truth and healing.

Hillary and Jenny examine the difference between storytelling as a path to integration vs. storytelling as a tool of self-promotion.

They also touch on:

* How social media exploits narrative structures to drive identity and sales

* The masculine vs. feminine modes of storytelling and what happens when we honor cyclical, relational, or open-ended narratives

* The idea that true sanity might begin when we stop making ourselves the center of every story

A conversation starter for anyone curious about reclaiming story as a human art–not just a marketing tactic.

Listen to more of Hillary’s work:

* Five Word Life Story – Hillary helps Jenny find the five words that define her (https://shows.acast.com/five-word-life-story/episodes/jenny-wise-black)

* Rashomon – A multi-perspective storytelling podcast exploring different sides of the same story

* Hillary’s “Linked In” Profile

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