TIMELESS REFLECTIONS BY ZOEY

Storytelling has always been a powerful means of communication, but its value truly lies in helping people understand themselves much more and also in connecting with others on deeper levels. Storytelling for me is not just about the experiences one shares, but an act of self-discovery-of trying to make sense of it all, the world outside me, my place within it. I feel artfully discharged when narrating stories of my life. Story telling lightens me in the way couching thoughts and emotions does into words. The telling of the story is putting a process in place to start evaluating events of my life for what they are.

I can see that some will say this openness with people is a risk, as it gets me to trust others too quickly or let them into my life before I’m ready. Still, for me, the rewards are well and truly worth the risks. It allows me, in a sense, to relate to and make sense of my stories on another level; sharing them enables me to reflect upon my experiences, to consider them in a fresh way, and like anything else, to learn from them more than I would have otherwise.

The therapeutic function of telling stories has been known for many years among professionals in the field of psychology. A by-now famous psychologist, Dr. James Pennebaker, an early originator of the research into expressive writing, found that writing or talking about personal experiences results in both psychological and physical health improvements. We are not just relating events when we are telling our stories; we process our emotions about those events, make sense of them, and consequently of ourselves. It nurtures empathy both for the storyteller and the listener. By telling our stories, we invite others into our world and allow them to get a glimpse of what was going through our minds, how we felt, and what happened in our lives. This alienates confidently and can create such a powerful attachment that helps others understand us better and makes us see our own experiences with the eyes of someone else. It is this understanding that can bridge gaps between people, creating one community with a shared sense of humanity.

But storytelling is not just a way of contacting others; it’s a way of contacting ourselves. In reflecting on our experience, in going through it an extra time and in words, we come to understand it and to see it more clearly. A pattern emerges in our behavior; we see why we did certain things, how we have changed, and what we have learned on the way.

It’s that self-awareness which is so critical to our growth, being able to know what we may want to work on and celebrate the parts where we have improved. For me, it also has a function of looping back to self-mirroring: making sense out of adverse events that have happened in my life. When I give an account of how hard times rise and fall, I am making a story out of these bad experiences for myself. It is in this manner of reflection and telling that I learned, evolved, and consolidated my past to reconcile myself to the present that ‘is’.

Storytelling, however, is a means and not an end in itself. As much as it clears and brings insight, it is only part of the journey toward self-understanding and growth. It is also listening to other people’s stories, learning from them, and seeing the world through their perspective that matters.

We are indeed learning more about ourselves, rather than just building a compassionate and kind world. Storytelling allows an individual to know themselves and others. It connects one’s experiences with the internal processing of life, or an even deeper connection with other people. Whether it be telling the story of self or the stories of others, through empathy, greater understanding, or personal growth, storytelling fosters this effect. “In the telling of our stories, we find ourselves. In the listening, we discover our shared humanity.” – Timeless Reflections by Zoey