Stories...

On the importance of our stories

Do you think of your life as a story, a story that is overflowing with stories within stories? A story steeped in suffering, secrets, and setbacks; immersed in mystery and mayhem, drenched in drama, rife with romance, laden in love and laughter, and well…you get the picture, I’m sure. Quite a story, no?

Or do you forget?

Often it isn’t until we are prompted to tell someone our story, or one of our stories, that we realise, or remember, that we are living within our story, that we are creating our story, and that we are the author of it all.

When our time comes to pass over, to leave this earthly realm, our stories go with us, unless we have taken the time to share them.

We all know this, intellectually, but how many of us take the time to tell our stories?

How many of us believe that we have a story worth telling?

My ancestors were clearly not storytellers because precious little has been passed down from the souls that have gone before me. I ponder on whether that is due to the stoicism that is synonymous with my culture? Anyway, I am trying to rectify this while there is still time. The few souls who still have stories to share are too lost within their stories now. Unfortunately, I can’t do much about that, however I hope to be the change I wish to see (as the cliche goes), and I have made a promising start (even if I do say so myself:-))

Releasing our words, getting them down on paper, speaking into a voice recorder or typing them isn’t always easy. The hardest part is getting started (another well-worn cliche) but once we get a few words down, and start to roll, once we stop worrying about perfectionism (a lesson within itself), it does get easier. As anyone who writes knows that it helps to write with the mindset that it is only for us, that no one else will read it, ever.

“The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller. The storyteller sets the vision, values, and agenda of an entire generation that is to come…”

Steve Jobs

Author’s own image

Even though I regularly talk to clients about the power of words, spoken, and unspoken, and of writing them down, I only took my own advice to the point where I would journal on a daily basis. It has taken a few more years, and the creation of space in my life, to be able to start writing actual memories, to start writing my stories within my story. The benefits of (finally) doing this, outweigh the doubts that still hang around me when I pick up a pen, doubts that are becoming less overbearing as I battle on. I feel the healing power of my written words within my own self and have received many words from readers, claiming the extent of the healing powers of words.

"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." Maya Angelou

Sharing our stories while we are still living as well as leaving them as part of our legacy, will help to heal ourselves as well as countless others, many of whom we will never be aware of.

Releasing spells as I like to think of it…

Owner’s own image

Inspiration

Fortunately, there are many writers whom we can learn from, and here are just a few who have resonated with me:

Thin Places - Kerri Ni Dochartaigh

Cacophony of Bones - Kerri Ni Dochartaigh

The Cure for Sleep - Tanya Shadrick

The Wild Other - Clover Stroud

All My Wild Mothers - Victoria Bennett

The Last Act of Love - Kathy Rentzenbrink

Substack has plenty of inspiration for writing of course and my favourite is, as any of you who regularly read my newsletters will know, The Cure for Sleep - Tanya Shadrick

A beautiful heart-wrenching publication is this one… Alva's Substack

I wish you well on your memoir writing journey and if you are keen to share any in the comments, I would absolutely love to read them!

Until next time,

Tracey x