There is power in telling your story

BY JONELL PANTLITZ

We are all storytellers.

From the day we started talking we have been developing our story. It is our story of our existence and experiences. We all have a unique story to tell and your story matters.

You see, stories develop the way humans perceive things. From stories we create our reality and opinions. As human beings, we crave connection and our stories are vital for our audience (family, friends, co-workers, etc.) to understand and connect with us.

This art of storytelling originated decades ago from cave drawings (aka visual stories) that told us about prehistoric times. The drawings from these caves told the history and culture of these people, and later altered to oral traditions, in which stories were passed down from generations by word of mouth. Then, there was a shift to words formed into narratives, including written, printed and typed stories. With our new digital age, stories are shared with one push of a button.

Everyone has a story to be told. Many of us are scared to tell those stories for the sake of it being considered uninteresting, boring or irrelevant. The rest of us are scared of being embarrassed by our past. However, the traces of our past are what will shape the narrative of our future. There is so much to lose by living in fear wondering what the other person may think. If we are honest with ourselves, our stories have the power to impact the people in and out of our lives.

Now, let’s take a walk down memory lane. Do you remember that one person that was exposed either in school or on social media? I have witnessed this happen countless times to women and men. What hurts me the most for these people is that they never got the chance to tell their story. The fate of their stories was in the hands of someone else, who now had the power to tailor it to how they wanted it to be presented to an audience of their choice.

According to Lissa Rankin, an OB/GYN physician, author, and founder of Owning Pink, “Every time you tell your story and someone else who cares bears witness to it, you turn off the body’s stress responses, flipping off toxic stress hormones like cortisol and epinephrine, and flipping on relaxation responses that release healing hormones like: oxytocin, dopamine, nitric oxide, and endorphins.”

She also mentioned “Not only does this turn on the body’s innate self-repair mechanisms and function as preventative medicine or treatment if you’re sick. It also relaxes your nervous system and helps heal your mind of depression, anxiety, fear, anger, and feelings of disconnection.”

Many of us are tortured by our inner selves and may feel disconnected from the world. However, the reality is millions relate to us. Share your story and hold the power to shape the narrative.

We all have within us a story to tell. Don’t be afraid to share it with the world.