In one of my last posts, I told a story about a walk.
(A walk is a little thing.)
I don't usually write stories. On this past occasion I chose to do so, less to share the contents of the story but more so, to share how easy it is to create a beautiful narrative.
A story is a little thing, that can have a not so little impact.
...
A man once said, "...there is something deeply built into us that needs story itself... we cannot become true human beings for ourselves without a story."
When I first read this, I thought about it for a while.
Thinking about all the stories I've heard. The beautiful, triumphant, relenting stories.
I also thought about all the stories I've told and shared. But most importantly, I thought about all the stories I've told myself.
Telling your story has come to be the cliche go-to as a way to get to know someone, or to introduce yourself. Someone might ask, so can you tell your story...
Whether they know it or not, your choose what kind of story it is that you tell. And with this, we give our story less credit, attention, importance than it actually deserves.
Stories don't only describe our actions and feelings after the fact, but they also influence our actions and feelings before life events and as they're unfolding.
Beyond getting your nose stuck into a Harry Potter book or watching a Netflix show, the narratives that we come across in our everyday life do more than just entertain us.
Stories can dictate the life we lead. The narratives we create can dictate our interpretations of where we have been, where we are, and where we wish to be - all of which are subjects of our stories.
We can come to tell ourselves stories like, "I was born with a certain level of intelligence and cannot change," which is a fixed story; a story that hinders us; a story that definitely would not make it onto Netflix, but somehow manages to make it onto the screen of our minds.
Then there are stories we tell ourselves that can be used for growth, "the human brain can grow and, with practice and hard work, become smarter over time. "
The narratives we create, guide and dictate our lives; leading to all sorts of drama, thriller, horror, joy, romance (excuse the analogies of film genres, but you get the picture haha).
The same man (whom the quote above belongs to) is also the man who wrote one of humanity's most pivotal stories.
His name was Martin Luther King Jr.
He had been telling himself the same story for years - in the form of a dream - nevertheless, that story then became reality.
Stories are central to our nature and being.
You don't have to be a poet to write a story for yourself, or a novelist, or a human rights activist.
All you need to do is find a way to create a narrative that tells the story you want to tell, one that empowers.
Aside from who the main character is, the rest is there to be created and moulded...
A story is a little thing, that can have a not so little impact.