It’s been awhile since I devoured a book in two days, sneaking in time while I waited for the oven to heat, opening it up while I fed my daughter scrambled eggs, or sipping a cup of tea and the kids played at my feet just so I can take in another few pages.
We can all attest to this undeniable power of a good story.
There are layers upon layers of meaning longing to be unearthed. Images and metaphors running around, begging to be caught and held close to our heart. Characters and plot twists that keep us hanging on to the edge of our seat and forgetting to breath.
Stories allure us into another universe. A place where our imagination and our hearts awaken at the sound of their mother tongue. Stories speak into the secret caverns and illuminate the shadows and subtleties within us.
I don’t think we can afford to forget our stories, to stuff them under the rug, or allow them be silent any longer.
Your story can quite literally carry someone across a threshold in their life. Your story can be the revelation, the open door, the lightbulb moment for someone else.
Stories are alive and irresistible. We are implicitly drawn into new perspectives, invited to envision the impossible, or dream up a different reality for ourselves. Stories have arms that pulls us out to sea, diving beneath the surface of our lives and into our invisible thoughts and feelings.
Too many of us are being stingy with our stories.
Why are we afraid to talk about the winding paths we’ve tread through sticky brambles and up steep cliffs and across valleys we thought would never end? Perhaps, it’s been too painful or traumatic, maybe our experiences feel too raw, or too layered and complex.
But what if I told you that people are literally waiting to hear your specific story?
I’m not sure how I can convince you of this, other than to say, think of someone who has trusted you with parts of their life. A person who has dared to give you a peek into the unkempt and uncompleted chapters. A person who has bravely shared with you the losses and the joys that have left an indelible mark on their heart forever.
How did you feel afterwards?
It always feels to me like I’ve received a precious gift.
Our stories come to life when they are given away. Don’t worry about how its wrapped.
Offer your adventure tales in all their authentic and ragged form to us through poetry, painting, written or whispered words. Tell the behind the scenes of your life with tears in your eyes if you must. Disclose your muddled past and embarrassing mishaps without fear of judgement. Explain the explorations that led to dead ends as well as the ones that led you over a cliff and taught you to fly.
Your story wants to breathe. It’s alive and active, words waiting to be made flesh and dwelling among us.
When we decide to fully enter our stories instead of trying to escape them, we begin to pull out threads of purpose, hope, and healing. More than a random, incomprehensible array of events, the pages of our life declare good news for all of humanity.
Your story is the script that saves us, what’s stopping your from sharing yours?
