Healing through Storytelling

I went to the Healing thru Writing Workshop: An evening with Elizabeth Alexander presented by The California Endowment.

I didn't make it to the full event and naturally, as this is one of the precious moments when the kids are with grandma I wanted to get the most out of the night. I walked in and found a seat just as the Q&A began. After listening to questions, I realized I had a question. I raised my hand. The person with the mic came over and placed the mic in front of me, everyone in the room turning in my direction as I begin to utter words, “Hello, I am Sara. My question is about…”

I feel myself pause.

I feel the stories inside of me waiting for my permission to be expressed. As more eyes turn in my direction, I contain these stories and continue, “When it gets hard to write. When there is more than one story that you know you want to share because you know it is healing and empowering to create a space for more people to share. But it’s so hard to write because it’s hard to go there and there is a lot of untangling to do. How do you get yourself to write these stories?”

And in my emotional fullness from even asking the question, I hear her say,

“Stories live in our bodies. Crying it out helps but you have to move yourself through it because you can get stuck there.”

I hadn't realized how these stories had a physical nature to them. But they do. I know this because I feel them affect my body as I become aware of the stories. And even as I ignore these stories they show up as pains or discomfort in my body. Being aware of where these stories are stored assisted me in releasing them. It felt easier to write freely in poetry, in vague terms at first. And I think that’s a good start. 

Whatever your story is and if you don’t feel safe yet to share, like me, I encourage you to seek ways to begin to release the story from your body with intention and gentleness. I began to instruct myself to release and I found that it was a helpful starter. Check it out:

Pull your stories out of your body

And write

Write that story to release it

Unearth those pains

Unearth the joys

Unearth the pleasure

Unearth the tears

Purge your story

Compost the ugly feelings

With delightful adjectives

Retell that story like a novel

Retell it like an action story

Retell that story how you felt it

With the ending you would have wanted

With the beginning you wish you had

Pull it out of your head

Cry it out of your eyes

Pluck it out of your face

Stomp it out of your feet

Birth it out of your womb

There’s no wrong way to tell a story

There’s no right way to write

Not when you are writing to free yourself

Not when your spirit needs you to honor your truth

Not when you need to let it go

Your story is here for you to

Always with you

Housed in your temple

Asking for your permission to be released

Anytime anyone asks, “Are you ok?”

Your story is there 

Waiting for you to begin to tell it

Awaiting your permission

And sometimes it doesn’t

Sometimes your story comes thru

Without any warning

Flooding tears

Heavy breaths

Gleeful smiles

Rolling eyes

Your story is in your body

And wants to exist outside of you

Someone where it can move

Inspire

Heal

Transform

And help you grow

Your story is present with you

Free yourself from stories of the past

Stories of wounded hearts

Stories of defeat

Stories of rage

Stories of cycles yet to be broken

Create a new story

A narrative that calls in your

Beauty

Strength

And intellectual prowess

Create a new story by shifting those old stories

Create a new story by living the life you want to live

Create that story every day the way you want it

Create stories you want to keep in your body

That won’t hurt you in your solitude

Create a story you are proud to tell

Make that story

Share that story

Give it life with words

Give it meaning with metaphors

Give it rhythm with alliteration

Write that story

Write and live every day

With imagination

With Love