We like to tell ourselves stories. As we make sense of our lives, we cast ourselves as the protagonist in an ongoing narrative, surrounded by supporting characters.

The structure of fiction almost certainly proceeds from our tendency to do this. Even in large stories with several characters that are all given equal weight in the storyline, there always needs to be a central character for the audience to latch onto, who is elevated above all the others. We need this, because we are most comfortable with stories that match the one we're constantly telling ourselves: that there is one central character around whom everything revolves.

The problem with this story structure is that real life is almost never like this. We spend our lives trying to write our own story, imagining that we're the the lead, even in situations in which we do not lead. Anything worth accomplishing in this world is never the effort of a single person, but of a group of people acting in concert. People don't coalesce around a single goal well when everyone thinks they are, or should be, in the lead role.

Our stories are real. Since they often define us, they are extremely important to our sense of self. The world in which I imagine living, the one in which I'd like to live, is one where more people are willing to cast themselves in supporting roles.