On the Importance of Stories in Our Lives
from The Gift of Stories
by 
Robert Atkinson

 
           "People everywhere are telling stories about some piece of their lives to friends and strangers alike.  Putting our life's events into the form of a story, even as a written narrative, can help us bear a burden or see with a clearer perspective.  The stories of our lives carry a great power because we tap into ageless, universal themes that become deeply familiar to us when we tell our stories."
          "Telling our own story enables us to speak our truth and to be heard, recognized, and acknowledged by others.  It is only through story that our truth can be told, that the meaning of life can be identified."

          "Sharing all forms of life stories is a powerful experience, one that can touch us deeply and give us great joy and satisfaction.  It can give us a sense of inner harmony and connectedness.  The real idea of a life story is to enable individuals to express their truth, as they see it, so that others might learn from it."

          "Stories - those that have been told across generations, as well as our own - inform, inspire, teach, maintain moral codes, record events that become history, establish family lines and genealogy, preserve customs, guide us, show us possibilities, open our hearts, make us laugh, and clarify all aspects of life."

          "Stories gather up the parts of us and put them together in a way that gives our lives greater meaning than they had before we told our story."

          "In the life story of each person is a reflection of another's life story.  In some mysterious, amazing way our stories and our lives are all tied together."

          "Like myths in traditional communities, our own life stories also serve the four classic functions of bringing us more into accord with ourselves, others, the mystery of life, and the universe around us."

          "Stories are a spiritual and eternal gift.  They are intangible; they can't be seen, only felt.  They are timeless; they don't come and go.  The message, meaning, and emotion of a good story stays with us forever."