Where Would You Like Your Story to Take You?
Cinderella was my favourite Disney story when I was a child. It still is. Before you assume that my life exists in a vacuum of fairy tale endings and a relentless desire to be swept away by a man riding a horse, which by the way, I am afraid of; I assure you, it is quite the opposite.
The story of Cinderella became my favourite because my parents read it to me and through this interaction, a safe and secure attachment was created. We connected. Of course, the adorable mice, fairy god-mother, and the transformation of the pumpkin into a carriage captured my attention, not to mention Cinderella’s beautiful ball gown and glass slippers. However, the magic of the moment was found when it was my turn to share the story; a story I knew from start to finish.
Stories bring us closer together. Your story belongs to you and you get to decide when and if it is going to be shared with others. The foundation of my personal and professional life is supported by story-telling and story-listening. It is a privilege to be the recipient of an individuals’ narrative. It is therapeutic to know your narrative is validated and acknowledged.
There are many ways to share your story, and the power of social media as its own entity is well documented in the world of mental health and wellness. Social media connects us to and with many things and people and provides a blank slate for us to ignite our creativity and engage in freedom of speech.
A few months ago I participated in my own social experiment using Instagram stories. I signed off from FaceBook two years ago in an attempt to preserve my mental health and to focus on the gift of time. Within the year I replaced it with Twitter and Instagram and eventually felt the same doom and gloom, the same resentment and envy of others. Solution: for the duration of one month I posted a daily Story and embedded a cryptic message only I held the key to. My story was relevant to what had taken place in my life the previous 24 hours and I strategically chose images and quotes specific to how I felt during that day. The pressure was off to constantly check to see how many ‘likes’ I received or to question why certain individuals did not ‘like’ or comment. My story took me exactly where I wanted to go; it was exhausting and extremely gratifying.
“Human connections are deeply nurtured in the field of shared story”
It is my hope that if you are reading this, you will return periodically to connect emotionally, mentally, and spiritually with yourself, others, and your environment. The journey is yours. Your story is your book of life filled with chapters you want to read over and over and others you want to rip out, but know, the story would no longer make sense without them. You might not be able to rewrite how your story has unfolded thus far, however, you do get to write how it ends.