The Beauty of Stories
I love stories. I love watching my friends and family’s stories unfold. I relish in the stories of my clients. I become captivated by the stories in the fiction I read. I watch movies and shows with my family and we share our reactions to the characters’ stories. The stories of my religion pull me in, the story of my country, especially right now, seems of utmost importance.
Our Family Story
My family history is fascinating and we are all becoming more invested in our family history as things like “Ancestry” and “23andMe” become more mainstream. My parents love their family history and sharing the stories of my relatives with me. So many of my relatives had such difficult and demanding lives. So many suffered. Yet they also persevered. My paternal great-grandmother (I called her Mom Mom Miller) raised her younger siblings when she was just 15 years old because her mother died young. I remember her for her green thumb (she could resuscitate any plant) and her delicious chopped liver that we ate on ritz crackers before meals. She lived to be over 100. How did she do it? How did she choose life over and over again even when life seemed impossible?
Stories can inspire us in powerful ways. Seeing others survive difficult times is essential. During Covid, we all took comfort that prior generations had their challenges and we learned from their resilience and watched how they managed to keep going.
Our own story
We all have parts of our own story that we wish we had done differently. I wish that when I was 22 years old, I had not felt rushed visiting my grandfather (Zeyda) at the hospital on the day he died (I was studying for my GRE at the time so I was distracted.) That part of my story changed me. It revealed to my younger self that life is short and prioritizing your loved ones matters. Telling them how you feel about them matters. That one pivotal moment has impacted millions of tiny moments since then. (To read more about my amazing Zeyda, read this blog dedicated to him.)
What moments in your own story changed you? How will this time during Covid alter your story? When imagining your future, what story do you hope to write?
As job seekers, managers, leaders, husbands, wives, parents and neighbors, we need to take time to listen to the stories of those around us. We need to notice the role we play in other people’s lives. Bringing curiosity to our own stories and the stories of others will make us life long learners and help develop our compassion and resilience.
Our stories adapt, change, swerve, veer throughout our lives. And I find it fascinating. What is your story? What is the story of your ancestors? What stories inspire you? Embrace your own messy story, stay curious about the stories of others and witness what unfolds within you and around you.
