The Power of a Story

I love stories…hearing them, sharing them, speaking them, wr iti

ng them.

What most of you probably don’t know about me is that up until college, I was deathly afraid of speaking…in public, in a group, in class.

Anything more than one

on one? Sent my pulse through the roof.

Thankfully, and only through God’s grace, I was able to overcome that fear in college, mostly because I was put in several situations where I had to get over it. Amazing what a person can do when they’re really faced with no choice but to just do it. 😉

The thing is…I’m SO glad I was put in those situations, because I learned something.

Like… talking to people is enjoyable, and sharing stories is even better.

I love to hear about people’s lives and the events that have brought them to where they are today.

To be fair, I also do my share of telling my own stories.

😉

When someone chooses to share a part of their life with me, I feel like they’re saying, I trust you enough to be vulnerable and give you a tiny (or not-so-tiny) piece of my life.

No matter where I’ve been… those stories from

those friends are what make up memories.

And those memories are often all I have of people to whom I’ve said goodbye and probably won’t see again until heaven.

So…I think a story is pretty powerful.

I touched on that today in my new blog post for the Algonquin Patch. I hope you’ll hop over there and check it out.

Thanks for reading, my friends.