The Introduction to my blog

The starting point of my blogging journey

It was in 2012 that I had the idea of starting an online “story sharing chat room”. I even bought a domain name but never quite kicked it off.

Long before then, I felt it in my spirit to form some type of community where people could come together and share their lived experiences, all of them – both painful and joyful. Because through my personal conviction, I know that there is healing to be found in story sharing.

The benefits of story sharing

1. Finding communion

Defined by Google as follows:

Noun: the sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings, especially on a mental or spiritual level.

I have, through taking in the stories of countless men and women of all ages over the years, been able to crack my heart wide open, become vulnerable and best of all – come to learn that I am not alone!

That, the knowing of I AM NOT ALONE in my story, whatever it was at the time, gave me an immediate sense that I fit in, that I belong in a place of sameness.

And that place, which really was a conversation, well many conversations, became a trusted and safe space where I found healing.

2. Catapulting growth

I am not with any authority saying that it is a replacement for professional interventions.

What I am saying is that I cannot see how any of my professional interventions would have been successful without these beautifully messy, painful, sometimes broken, yet always ending with unforgettable life lessons, never-to-ditch character traits like courage, patience, respect, kindness, determination, and the list goes on.

What the stories could look like

Funny

Know this – some of the stories may be so funny that they’ll cause you belly aches from all the laughter, so much that you might just fall off your chair.

Triggering

Others may trigger painful emotional responses buried so deep inside your heart that you didn’t plan to dig up again in this lifetime.

Insightful

And others may provoke a thought that leads you to insights, the type of insights that make you go “wow, how is it that I never thought of that before?”.

Inspirational

And some will be of an intellectual nature, with some “how to” pointers.

Not for you

And then there will be those stories that you find simply boring, uninspiring and uninteresting until the next one, right? I cannot promise to satisfy the needs of every person who opens a story, but I promise this – that every story I share will be HONEST.

My stories will be a dance between past and present events, stepping right back into my childhood, through my teens, young adult life and now middle age. I’ll touch on my relationship with myself, my spirituality, my career and work, my family, my sister hood, and many more.

I’ll share some of my own tips and tricks, tools and resources from which I’ve drawn to help me overcome some of my challenges in the past. And I hope that as we get the story sharing conversation going, this platform will develop into a library of resources for the tribe.