Written by: Kristin Hendrix, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Humans are a meaning-making species. Our actions, and the ones of those around us, are given significance as we make our way through the world. We experience, assign context, and weave complex, interconnected stories to hold within us.
Our stories connect us. We relate through shared experiences. If you and I go on a road trip together, we have a common story created through that experience. While a friendly road trip is a common story told millions of times, this one would be unique to us and our connection.
Everyone weaves a tapestry of stories throughout their lives. Threads start and end as people come in and exit. Bright colors might signify rich, powerful, positive experiences. Dark colors the struggles and challenges that are also inherent in human existence.
We carry our stories within us, building upon them day after day. Every one of us is a story maker and keeper. As we head into the third year of a pandemic, in an age of constant change and disruption, the world needs more of us to become storytellers.
The age of storytelling
Right now, you’re reading a story. One I hope inspires you to share yours. But what if you’re not called to write? Fortunately, we are seeing a new type of Renaissance. One that makes storytelling accessible to nearly everyone.
Not everyone is called to write, but that’s a very limited view of what storytelling can be. Stories can be told through the spoken word. They have the power to inspire, console, or guide our friends, family, colleagues, or groups of strangers with a common interest. It can be told through touch, with a gesture, or the press of a hand. Visual arts, like drawing, sculpting, photography, or painting, can bring stories to life before our eyes.
Physical storytelling can be seen in paper arts and gift making. There are intricate quilts and needle art with stories of love or conflict embedded in them. Notes of music inspire us to feel and take us on a journey, with or without words. TikTok is filled with dances revealing creativity, empowerment, and the history of cultures around the world.
In the age of social media, expressing and sharing parts of ourselves has become the easiest it’s ever been.
Why is it so important we share our stories? While we are more virtually connected than ever, we are becoming more disconnected from each other. If stories are our connective tissue, we need them to bring us together.
Shifts in social media for storytelling
Social media is filled with stories. While a large percentage are neutral (neither positive or negative), the ones that tend to receive the most engagement are either highly positive or highly negative.
Recently, they’ve been more negative, which is clearly problematic. Particularly if we are already struggling. The positive ones, on the other hand, may be beyond positive to the point of creating a perception of perfection that is unattainable.
With this kind of positivity, when things are not going as well in our lives, we may wonder if we are missing out or something is wrong. If we play the comparison game to the extreme highs and lows of social media, we may find ourselves discouraged by both.
Fortunately, we are seeing more “real” posts as the harm of airbrushing – from photos to supposed “insta-perfect” lifestyles – becomes better understood. Posts that share struggles or imperfections, not in the form of negativity, but to balance what might otherwise look like something unattainable.
Sharing our stories helps others
It may be tempting to shy away from our dark periods and struggles. To share the wins and the smiles and hide the failures and tears. However, when we share the darkness, it is a beacon to those who are also finding themselves without light. Our hard stories are probably some of the most important. When shared, they are like hands reaching out from our dark place, ready for others to grab them and find solace.
Realizing someone else is experiencing a similar struggle eases isolation and loneliness. Seeing a piece of art with dark swirling emotion and having an inner sense of knowing the place that inspired it. Music that may hit notes that we recognize in our own journey and shows us a path ahead we don’t yet know but hope to find.
Our stories can help others when they identify with our journey. Stories can be healing when there is recognition that we are not alone. Or uplifting when sensing a path forward.
Sharing our stories helps us
Those same stories can also help us. There is a form of energy release that comes with sharing a story.
When we feel positive emotions like joy, and share them with others, we can amplify those good feelings. Negative emotions and stories we may be feeling do the opposite. They grow when we hold on to them and dissipate as we release them.
In sharing our stories, and having someone else respond with “Me too,” we feel less alone. We realize that the fear, despair, or frustration we feel is not just within us. Struggle is part of the human condition, and when we share those struggles, we realize we are never the only ones. Any shame or sense of isolation we may feel around our experiences, thinking they are unique to us, are diminished.
Our emotions will come out. Negative emotions, if not dealt with, come out in ways we may not intend. Sharing our stories allows us to put them in our hands and release them out into the world gently. With intention, we can share and experience those strong emotions without them coming out and negatively impacting ourselves or those around us.
Share your story
I’ve been writing my entire life. Sharing small vignettes with friends and family since I was very young. It was only later that I embraced the terms writer and anecdotal leader and made storytelling a core part of how I show up in the world.
Over the last decade, I have experienced challenging moments. While the struggles were difficult and often lonely, I was able to get to the other side. To look back, see the pattern, and find the lesson. And then share it so others would feel seen, less isolated, and find light in a dark time.
During the pandemic, I realized that DURING the struggle is a critical time to share. We are all going through an unprecedented period in our lives. We are creating new ways of living, working, and interacting as we challenge what wasn’t working and formulate what post-pandemic life will look like.
Let’s make storytelling part of that life. Help ourselves and others feel more connected to amplify the light in dark times.
While struggle is part of the human condition, we have an opportunity for it to feel less isolating and more of a shared experience. Let’s help each other through life’s challenges and use them as fuel to create a richer and more interconnected world.
Kristin Hendrix, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Kristin Hendrix’s mission is to be a catalyst of positive change in the world, one leader at a time. Kristin is a technology executive and professional coach guiding individuals and teams through transformative change. After learning leadership from the United States Marine Corps and evolving those approaches to benefit corporations in the Age of Disruption, Kristin recognized that deficits in the leadership pipeline limited diversity in leadership roles. She created LeadershipVITAE to dispel commonly held myths about leadership, making it more accessible to everyone. Through her writings, speaking engagements, and tailored coaching sessions, Kristin shares tangible methods and frameworks that help others unlock their power and practice the personal and professional leadership skills needed to achieve their goals.
