Everyone has a story to tell. Storytelling has been a huge part of our lives across people and generations. However, very few people recognize or realize the power of storytelling.
Storytelling is way more powerful than we envision. Minds are influenced, liberated, taught something new, and even given a whole new impartation through stories. Whether heard by mouth or read on the pages of a book. Stories are powerful.
Even the expert salesman doesn’t fail to acknowledge the importance of storytelling as one way to reach into the minds of another to evoke emotion and get them to see what they desire them to see. Stories can change your perspective to conform to a particular narrative.
Oftentimes, when asked to share a story, we may feel put on the spot. Trying to come up with something peculiar or maybe something society can resonate with.
And if we're honest, we can admit to trying to tell our stories from a popular or widely accepted narrative without the slightest idea how much our story can positively touch lives and bring freedom. However, it is important to tell our story as it is, from our narrative, without disregard for our experiences and reality.
How can telling our stories bring healing to us and how can narratives from our stories change lives?
I'll tell you about a little girl who lived in West Africa and how storytelling changed her life.
From the very young age of four, she loved to read books. Her mother likes to say that she started reading at the age of two but she finds four to be more realistic.
She mostly read British and American books as African authors seemed practically nonexistent. A little while after, she started to write her own little stories at the age of seven.
Her stories were nothing like her nor did they contain relatable experiences to who she was, her color, her environment, or her experiences. She wrote from a narrative that wasn’t hers. A narrative she could not even resonate with.
She’d read about blonde hair, blue eyes, white skin, apple pies and tarts, and winter snow and Autumn leaves. So that was exactly what her stories were about. Never mind that none of these were relatable to her.
It seemed right until she grew. And then she read another story. This time, it was one she could connect with. It took into account her kinky hair, her dark skin, her mother’s tongue, and her everyday experiences. It was game-changing. She could see herself!
Someone else’s narrative through storytelling had brought healing. That her world and her world’s experiences and reality were as exciting and mattered as much as that of the white books she’d read.
It allowed her to soar. This time, with this newly found prize of a relatable narrative that was discovered on the pages of a book and transferred to the heart of a young girl to live forever, she found healing in who she was. Embracing her culture and everything about her and telling it in her stories. Bringing healing to others like her too.
She grew up to become a phenomenal woman who is none other than the remarkable writer, Ngozi Chimamanda Adichie.
Likewise the same in the Writing for Freedom community. People through storytelling have achieved personal growth and healing. And are reaching others too.
From finding freedom in stepping out of their comfort zones to dealing with anxiety, and embracing creative writing skills, these are a few testimonies of how storytelling has changed the lives of participants in WFF encouraging growth and healing.
Dear reader, tell your story and tell it boldly. And remember, just because a narrative is popular does not mean you should stick with it. Tell your story.
