Stories are powerful. They are like guides that lead us through a narrative and into a world that lives between the words - revealing so much more than the mere words themselves. A story contains the power to ignite desire in a person; the power to portray a principle; the power to create a new space in which one can take refuge; and even the power to invoke a visceral response in the listener. Stories are like food for the soul - nourishing it and helping it grow. More than anything, stories contain the power to heal.
Several years ago, after a man I barely knew boldly shared his story while at a men's retreat I finally mustered the courage to tell my own story of brokenness, sexual abuse and addiction - deciding to spare no detail and let everything out of all the dark recesses of my heart and mind. It was one of the most uncomfortable and painful moments of my life. I could not even look at the other guys in the room. I just knew that when I looked up they would all have run out of the room to go pray for me and my heathen ways.
After the second hour into my story when I finally did look up, they hadn't left - they were actually engaged with me and many of them crying for me during parts of the story where I could not yet cry for myself.
After that retreat I went home and shared the details of my story with all my closest friends. I wanted to share about this hope and healing I had encountered. However, I did not expect what happened next - through telling my story others around me were finding healing as well. Yet, not because of some enlightened truth in my story or the eloquence of my speech but because in the telling of my story I had inadvertently invited them to begin to tell their own stories.
As a result of sharing my story over those first few months, I began to experience amazing healing in my life. The hope that came as I spoke the words of my story began creating a new space of healing, a space that hung between the words of my story. The telling of my story ushered in newfound freedom and peace that seemed to permeate every ounce of my being.
I had been hiding my story for years, fearing that telling my story would drive people away. Yet, telling my story seemed to have the opposite effect. The more I shared, the more others shared with me. It seemed as though others were starving for a deeper connection through the sharing of our stories, our lives.
I have realized that in a world that offers numerous ways to connect on a daily basis, we are starving for a much deeper connection than Twitter and Facebook can offer. We all want more than the contrived stories of life presented on people's Facebook page or the polished stories presented by the leaders around us. We want authenticity.
We want the truth!
A starving person will likely tell you that what they want most is for the ache of hunger to go away but in reality their desire is actually for something much deeper - healing nourishment. They want to live - hunger is just the voice to that deeper desire.
The same thing applies to stories. We may not even know why we are starving so much for authenticity but it is for more than stopping the hunger for connection. It is for the healing nourishment of what a story offers to a person - the hope of new life.
In my silence my story had power over me - yet, in telling my story it released its suffocating grip on me and began to grip others and pull them toward life and healing along with me. The nature of my story did not change once I began to speak it aloud, yet the nature of its power was radically changed from that of bondage to that of freedom. Yet that power could only be realized once I spoke it with my mouth. Only then did the power of my story become a catalyst for change in my life and the life and stories of others.
Are you willing to go beyond the words and to the truth of your story? Who around you may be waiting on you to tell your story and invite them into a healing space? Had that man several years ago not told his story, I am afraid my life would have been bleak in comparison to my life as it is now.
Share your story. Experience healing. Share healing.
Aaron Harris is a native Atlantan and currently resides in Sandy Springs. By day, he is a transactional attorney in the Atlanta area and moonlights as an artist and writer. His artworks can be found in many private and corporate collections throughout the United States. Through his writings he uses his own personal story to address hard subjects like addiction and abuse in order to bring light into dark areas otherwise often ignored. Connect further at Aarons's blog or follow him on Twitter.
