Chapter 1 The Wonderings
What is your storey?
What is the storey you are telling yourself about yourself, your life, your aspirations?
Has your storey, your personal narrative, changed over the years, but your actions and life have not caught up with that?
Or perhaps you don’t think about your story as life is so busy, and so unpredictable that focusing on you and your storey feels somehow selfish?
Are you sometimes afraid to look at yourself, your life, and your story?
Because in all honesty, I’m sometimes afraid to look at my story as I might not like it as much as I imagine I could.
What if it is too painful to analyse it or rewrite it? Fear is a strong motivation to not do something or to look another way.
Since we are surrounded by stories 24/7, I thought to myself that perhaps taking time away from distractions, life’s must and dos, and of course news I should look more closely at my own storey as an act of radical self-care and kindness towards myself.
I don’t know how about you, but as a neurodiverse creative individual, the story I often tell myself about myself is harsh and pretty critical of my work, achievements or lack of them. I’m tough on myself, my own expectations, and high standards of my work I try to uphold.
But storeys, just like people, should be allowed to change, grow and evolve.
Taking the time to recognise when one narrative has run its course, and a new narrative needs to take its place should be as natural as breathing.
Chapter 2 The Global Narrative
The global narrative that has been circulating over the past couple of decades is rather disempowering. On one hand, popular culture is screaming for equal opportunities and following one’s dreams no matter what. But on the other hand, the barriers to fulfilling those dreams are very pricey. Let’s take the student debt or the crisis of living or the endless circle of negative news.
The films, videos, and social media tell us that it’s possible to dream big and achieve those dreams. But the reality is very different, especially if your daily life is all about surviving.
When it comes to social, economic, and political change, we “the people” are often told that change can’t happen because of laws, systems, traditions, economic instability, inflation, oil prices, war, environmental crises, and the list goes on. All those excuses leave people feeling overwhelmed, so they won’t ask questions, fight for change, or truly believe that dreams can materialise.
Luckily, history has proven that the global narrative can be changed and is often challenged by ordinary people taking small, at first wobbly steps towards creating a new story.
It’s clear to me that our individual storeys are interconnected with the global narrative, as we are influenced by what is happening on the world stage, one way or another, whether we like it or not.
By becoming truly empowered, in any way possible, we could change the destructive, power-grabbing global narrative that represents only a fraction of society.
I’m empowering myself through education, creativity, radical kindness, and radical self-care towards myself, my family, and my small community.
I’m also using my money wisely, which, in the current system, seems to be the only currency those in charge of the global narrative respond to. (Be careful of the corporate greed masked behind values as in my book those companies are worse than those, which articulate that their only objective is to make as much money as possible. I got caught up in a few of those recently and will write about this soon, so watch this space.)
Chapter 3 Just Imagine
Just imagine if our individual, community, as well as global stories were all about kindness, cooperation, humanity before profit, greed, and individual power.
Just imagine what social change could take place if the focus of the stories we hear and tell ourselves shifted from wealth hoarding and class divide to equality, kindness, and mutual respect for one another and for our planet.
Psychologists, personal wellness gurus and motivational speakers often talk about changing the negative narrative about us, our lives and our circumstances.
So, if that’s the case, what if we create a global story that could be the shining light in the darkness? The global story would comprise many individual stories, without excluding those with whom we might disagree.
What if changing and redefining our personal and global stories was to become an act of radical resistance?
What if reimagining the future of our planet through storytelling is what we need in order to take control of the narrative? Rather than passively observing, we can take charge of the future by rewriting the current story we’re being told.
Is this a radical approach to change?
Perhaps, maybe for some.
Is it unusual, of course.
But empowering ourselves, our lives, and our communities through stories and storytelling will help us rewrite the exploitative narrative we have been part of for too long. We don’t need to ask for permission from those who don’t hear us, ignore us, or don’t respect our contribution to society, however it’s made.
I propose we look for people, communities and spaces that truly inspire us, are inclusive and encourage collaboration and community building.
I’m going to finish this essay with a quotation from one of my favourite movies:
“What Say You?!”
PS. I’m made by Made by Dyslexia, so expect small typos and big thinking.
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