“But before you go
Can you look at the truth ?
You have a lovely singing voice
A lovely singing voice”
“Sing Your Life” – Morrissey
We all have a story.
Scream it. Whisper it. Scrawl it on the wall.
We all have a story.
The power of storytelling is the power of humanness and vulnerability. It’s the power of strength and the power of scraping the heart and dusting the shavings onto others. It’s the power of transforming pain and isolation into creative force. It’s the power of giving voice to the spirit within us all that desires connection with others. It’s the power to breathe into the space of humanity.
We all have a story.
Draw it. Film it. Shout it out.
We all have a story.
Our lives are an unfolding narrative, an unique journey unto itself with its own arcs and dips, a life resplendent with heartbreak and joy, pleasure and sorrow. Our lives commence upon a path with purpose, even if we aren’t aware of the plot lines and land mines. We forge on, plug away, happily trudge, bristle past, strut and sway between the breaths of our actions and thoughts. We create a spark between the friction of what we need and what we want, of giving and receiving, of playing the part given to us and as opposed to the part we hoped to audition for.
We all have a story.
Laugh it. Cry it. Put it into dance.
We all have a story.
Our story are sometimes all we have. Our story connects us to the ground, to the air, to each other. It lays out into the open our susceptibilities, like tissue paper being uncrumpled and smoothed out for the world to see – creases, tears and all. Our story separates us, yet shows us that we are never alone. Our story is like a tiny point of light in the sky, to which all our stories adds up to the collective brightness of recovery, of overcoming, of being human. Our story is a tapestry woven with threads of love, threads of pain, threads of character. Our tapestry is woven with care, sometimes in haste, sometimes without thought. Our tapestry is threadbare in some patches, shaggier in others. We wear our tapestry, our story, like a shawl and show the world what we want by how we wear it – tucked in or spread open.
We all have a story.
Share it. Recite it from your dog eared Hello Kitty diary. Broadcast it.
We all have a story.
When I was alone in my crippled world, hearing other people’s stories showed me a way out. Hearing other people’s stories restored faith that all can and does work out. Hearing other people’s stories was the first rung on the ladder to hoist myself into a better way of receiving the world, that I no longer needed to be lonely, that I no longer needed to push away the pain, that I could be whole again. It was in hearing your stories that pulled me out of despair. And telling my story is my way of paying that forward.
We all have a story.
Dazzle us with it. Make us cry. Have us rejoice in it. Connect me to you.
We all have a story.
Sometimes our story is all we have. It is the key that unlocks another heart. It is the aria that swoons open other minds and souls. It is what gives our message depth and weight when working with others. It plays on the minds and emotions of those who hear our words and read our thoughts. It creates space for change, for pause, for creation. It cracks open closed souls.
We all have a story.
Be a new mentor. Show your light. Sponsor someone. Share your world to make this world better.
We all have a story.
Sing it. Step right up to the microphone and sing it. We are all listening.
I am listening to you – with heart open, mind open, arms open.
Sing it.
Message in a Bottle 
Beautiful, as always. And I have to agree, in the beginning, speaker meetings are what kept me going, and I still love ’em! Thanks for starting my Sunday morning with a smile!
Hot Darn Paul, this is outright beautiful! When I started writing my blog, I had no idea how it was going to help me, all I had was the insistent voice of my Co-Writer in my ear saying, “Trust me, you need to do this.” So I did, and in my endeavors to get my story “out there,” I began to hear other stories. Stories of despair, stories of hope, stories of struggle and stories of triumph. All the same themes woven in a myriad of patterns. My same story, but different.
My story, your story, all of our stories, saved me and continue to keep me safe.
Thank you,
Kary May
Beautiful, simply beautiful Paul!
Reblogged this on Life Corked and commented:
Beautiful post from a fellow blogger.
Well said! And so beautifully written. You sure do have a way with words. Such a writer you are! Just beautiful. We all have a story indeed, and it’s in each others stories we heal- knowing we are not alone. Thank you for this!
I had just finished posting my latest blog entry when I saw your title and thought, “Did we just write on the same topic!?” Not really. This is very nice. All those folks who say they have a boring story or it’s nothing special… I always tell them, “You have YOUR story. And one of these days, someone’s going to walk in this room that only YOU will be able to really talk to.” I can’t get enough of people’s stories.
Reblogged this on Memoirs of a gay black man. and commented:
Amazing, inspirational, and beautiful!!
perfect post. we DO all have stories and the stories in meetings help so much. i think of the “old days” whenever those days were..way before my life but back in the day when whole families and extended families lived together and in villages and history determined on oral storytelling passed down from generation to generation. there is so much isolation (well, i’ll speak for myself) with living in our big homes with our devices… but today i got out to have lunch with my mom for her 79 birthday and afterwards hung out with she and dad for a bit. Dad told his stories…the same ones he tells all the time, the same ones I’ve heard a thousand times but they were stories of his life…he always tells stories of his life. i thought about this after reading your post and I don’t think I know my stories??? When I do tell stories though–my children LOVE IT and they’re so attentive to it. storytelling is so human. thank you for this. my comment is not making sense but I totally see the value in storytelling and connecting with others that way. anyways, thanks Paul!!!!!