Your Stories are Powerful - Let's Start Here!

The Magical Science of Storytelling | David JP Phillips | TEDxStockholm

Stories are so powerful. As we share them, they can motivate, inspire, teach, bond and strengthen. They also deepen identity and purpose, and build resiliency in ourselves and in our family members.

Studies have shown that one of the greatest indicators in childhood resiliency and the NUMBER ONE predictor of a child's emotional well-being was in how well they knew their family's story -- not just their parents' story, but the generational family stories that show how families and individuals grow between lows and highs and highs and lows in life. What power these stories have for ourselves and our children!

Personally, I think this is where we start with family history. It's easy to get bogged down in names and dates and research. As a mom with young kids spending that kind of time researching in books is less valuable than being present with our children and sharing what we know from our own life experiences and those of our families. We start with ourselves and we begin to write down our stories. These stories have come from pivitol moments in our lives and how we reacted to them, what we learned from them, how we overcame them, how we changed, how we loved, and how we became a better person. From there, we move on to our parents and grandparents. What were their stories? If our parents and grandparents are still alive, we get them talking about their experiences and our experiences with them and we write them down.

If you want a little inspiration, The TedX talk I've shared above is delightful and fun to listen to. David Phillips makes the point that stories are powerful because of the way our brain's chemistry reacts to various types of stories. He shares three important things that I relate to family history:

1) Every person is a born storyteller. Yes, even you!
2) Write your stories down. We have 3-4 more stories from our own life than we think we have!
3) Index those stories -- put them into categories and use them in conversations with your loved ones.

Your stories are valuable and powerful and your kids will remember them -- the good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful. They all have purpose and can teach an important narrative as your family navigates life.