I talk about stories a lot — because they matter! Just the act of embracing and recording our stories can be healing. Our stories also might help someone else as they face challenges in their life. Sharing them with our families can create and preserve a family legacy.
Author and teacher Ray Buckley says this in his book Dancing with Words:
“There is both physical and psychological healing associated with the telling of our personal stories. We seem to be able to offer and identify the positives in our stories and confront the conflicts. In the same sense, others who hear our stories and relate to our experiences cease to be ‘others’ and are pulled into community with us. It is through the act of sharing our stories that all are made aware that ‘I am not alone.’ “
Our life stories are powerful. The challenges, victories, adventures, heartaches — every episode that has helped form who you are today holds a message that someone else may need to hear. When revisited, stories from our own lives also give us tools for reflection and for making sense of our lives. Author and storyteller Daniel Taylor, in his helpful book Tell Me A Story, reminds us that we have the power to write a better story for our lives:
“Knowing and embracing healthy stories are crucial to living rightly and well. If your present story is broken or diseased, it can be made well. Or, if necessary, it can be replaced by a story that has a plot worth living.”
I took seriously the words of these and other storytellers and self-published a collection of my Dad’s stories. My father has passed away, but his stories live on in our little book One Man’s Work. I’ve shared this volume with our family, with the community where he and I both grew up and with other writers who want to create a family legacy of stories.
You can request copy of the book Dad and I wrote by emailing me here.