What’s Your Story?

I have a friend that is got her masters in English.  She is really a remarkable woman with deep compassion and heart and a lot of insight.  I love talking to her.  We often sit near each other at swim meets, I can’t imagine what it is like to sit near us and catch snippets of our conversations.

In one moment we might be cheering our kids on to their next qualifying time and sifting through papers and websites to make sure we know down to the hundredth of a sec – JUST how fast they need to go- screaming GO _ KICK _ DIG_ PULL _ GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO… like we can will them to go faster with the sound of our voices…. and in the next moment we are talking about life writing, memoir and the meta narrative that surrounds the medical journey’s that so many of us are on.

On her own journey through her Masters she has found a deep connection to those that have written their stories about cancer, a form of narrative medicine.  She tells me of these patients turned writers that tell there stories in print so others might not feel alone, so the medical community might hear from the patient just how hard what they go through is, to expose the truths, to further the conversation.  She excites me every time she starts talking about these books, these lives, these stories that people have taken the time to write.

I have a passion to bear witness to the stories of others in pain. I believe so strongly in the validation we can offer each other by listening. Listening in places where we often are not heard. But we know. We know the power of being heard and believed. I want to do that for others so healing can begin. We can’t always change our pain, but we can certainly change our suffering because of our pain. I don’t know about you, but I am all for that!

I am not so certain we can start our healing process if we are still suffering the pain of not being heard or believed.I want to encourage you to share your story…

I’ve said it a thousand times, my story is mine, yours will be different, our bodies are not the same, but we do have so much in common.  The isolation, the fear, the anger, the frustration from all the people in our lives that didn’t know what to do with our pain, that didn’t know how to tell us in a HELPFUL way that they couldn’t help us.

The way we cling to those that offer help, and appear to be able to back that up with treatments that work.   I am thankful for the world being what it is today and having the ability to have a place to write, but what is even MORE valuable to me is OUR stories.

I have been sharing my story for the last 2 years in hopes others would hear  their story in mine and not feel so alone of silenced. I wrote another book this year sharing the stories of others, because stories change us! Telling my story has changed me, and I want you to experience that change too. I want you to know you are not alone. I want you to have pacing knowing you are heard and believed so you may being the next part of your journey, healing.

To read more of my story or others, click the links below.