The Power of Storytelling
When I was volunteering at a retired home in Maryland, the main activity was decorating composition notebooks with the residents so they could write down their stories and pass them down from generation to generation. The woman in charge of the event explained that each one of us has a unique story which is important and worth sharing. If only we could find the courage to actually tell it in its full, sometimes ugly, but always worthwhile -ness.
As children, we love stories. We watch them all day on TV, we read the same, exact story every, single night (tirelessly) before bed, we make them up and play them out with make-believe or dress-up. We are master storytellers from the beginning! I have come to the realization that along the way of trying to grow up in this world, we lose the playful, creative, imaginative parts of ourselves that we left behind as soon as we found out that’s what the “younger kids” do. We are so quick to leave these traits behind and replace them with being “cool” and (our version of) “grown up”. But as we become actual grown-ups, we find out that being playful, creative, and imaginative gives exuberance and color to life. They are what make life fun and joyful.
So how do we get back to the childlike sense of wonder, imagination, excitement, and awe of this wonderful universe we live in?
1. Become a child again
Not the “I know you are but what am I?” type of child but the child that comes up with 100 different uses for a paper clip. The type of child that gets hurt, cries about it, and then brushes it off and tries again without building a negative story around the incidence. The type of child who goes outside on a rainy day and is amazed by the wind, the sound of thunder, and the small snail crawling on the pavement. Why take life so seriously? None of us make it out alive anyway.
“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated”.
―Confucius
2. Focus on the good
If we are going to tell the whole story, there will undoubtedly be situations that we would’ve liked to change. As tempting as it is, don’t turn your faults away from the camera. Our perceived failures are what led us to where we are today and in hindsight, the journey was exactly how it was supposed to be. Embrace every part of your story because each one is a part of you!
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
―Albert Einstein
3. Actually tell your story
To your partner, to your family, to your community, to the world – You can only find your voice by using it (I borrowed that one from Mel Robbins). By using your voice to talk about your own life and what you’ve learned or to create a new story that is burning inside of you, an opportunity is created in which you can think through your experiences and gain a new perspective. Think about what J.K. Rowling must have discovered about herself in writing Harry Potter! Maybe you break free from the stories that have you feeling blocked. Maybe you break the seal of your creativity and that freedom spreads to all areas of your life. Expression is like a muscle that we need to use in order to tone it and make it more powerful.
Telling our story helps us see how far we come so we can appreciate where we are. It helps others by showing them that through difficulties, life always has a way of coming around to sunny days. More importantly, by actually telling our story we release ourselves from the anxiety we feel by not fully expressing ourselves. We let out the energy of the story spinning in our heads until the top stops spinning and falls into a peaceful bliss.
Join me next Sunday when I’ll talk about silence.
