Grasping patterns of people’s lives

What does it mean to live? This question is the starting point of my research.
We experience ups and downs in the course of our lives. And no more do we need help of our companions than when we face trials. But it is much harder to support one another than one might imagine. How can people cooperate to overcome hardships? To find an answer, I conducted field work research on traditions of mutual aid in local communities.
In my other study I documented the lives of research participants with the aim to discern specific traits characterizing certain periods and societies, as well as people that belong to them. People spend their lives in local communities, at times directly influenced by the period they live in. Listening to the stories told by the locals, I try to discern how an individual exists within society and history.