Not just because I’m a writer, although that certainly exacerbates it.
Something happens, and I build my stories around it… some call them memories. I like ‘stories.’ It has a nice ring.
ANYONE I interact with is part of my stories. You may see yourself in one. It may even be about you. However, I’ll say that’s rare.
By the time I write about something, usually the inspiration has been past for months. And what I’ve written is usually sufficiently generic that it can cover any of a half-dozen situations, because it’s become a story.
A story I tell myself about things, to help me explain my world.
I have a lot of those that I don’t write about as well. That I use to explain my world and my behaviors to myself. That I’ve told so many times, that I sometimes get wrapped up in my own stories…
I wrote once for a personals ad that I wore heels all of the time, unless I was hiking or working out.
At the time, it was true.
Then, I started buying some cute flats for everyday wear, but I felt a resistance inside me. Took me a few years (really, I know, I know, I’m slow, sometimes) to realize that I was telling myself a story about who I am and how I dress that no longer suits my life.
Once I realized, I gave it up, and now, I buy flats just as naturally as I buy heels (although I STILL hate 2″ heels and kitten heels, ugh), because my story has changed.
And you can change yours, too. Your stories with me can change simply by changing your interactions with me. If you see yourself in one of my stories, rather than worrying about whether I meant YOU, understand that if YOU see yourself and think I could mean you, then YOU are the only one who can change that story, and only through your interactions with me.
If you tell yourself stories about your life that may have been true (or even still are), but hold you back, change the stories.
I once was ____, now, I’m getting better at ____.
For example.
I know that my stories—those I share with you and those I tell myself—have brought me a lot of joy, and those that hold me back are being systematically released into my past where they belong.
What stories do you tell yourself that work for you and bring you strength?
What stories connect you with others?
What stories do you tell yourself that could be let go, or changed into something more in line with your current life?
