The Stories We Tell

There is never one “true story” waiting to be told from real events: Narrative formation is always a creative process. This is as true personally as it is culturally. A story, the very human means we use to make sense, bridges the gap between what we know and what we don’t. It is always perspectival. Every story highlights some events and overlooks others. Does knowing this help us to change our stories?? Well…it’s a starting point.

Must stories change?

Anything living changes. We live our lives into stories, personally and culturally. We become invested in our stories, building on them as we build our lives. It’s a human way of working with what we’ve got. The loss of a story can be painful or frightening, and sometimes people clutch tightly to their versions, against all reason. Undoubtedly, there are those who seek to control, but no one owns the stories--not even Disney! Stories are alive, and they will reveal themselves in new ways, and they will find new ways to be told.

Where Are You Trapped?

Stories have dysfunction built into them, as apparently, so does life. This characteristic seems integral to our helping us work through challenges. But, when we find ourselves trapped in the same story over and over again, always grappling with the same dysfunction, then we know the stories we’re living need to change. They are not helping us work through our challenges, but keeping us entrenched.

We can feel trapped in our stories, whether they are personal stories, family stories, or cultural stories. But we have the right to tell our stories in our own ways.

Change the Story, Change the World

Even when you feel constricted in life, there is room for metaphorical movement, and movement on any level can create change on another. With meditation and imagination, we can revisit life events from new angles. Movement changes perspective, and perspective changes everything.

Making Space for Your Thoughts and Feelings

We can use our journals to explore the stories we tell ourselves. The simple practice of tracking inner and outer events, dreams, insights, and observations in one journal reveals the patterns and themes unfolding in your life. How do all the pieces fit together? By writing, sketching, and tuning in, you see connections you hadn't noticed before.

Journaling is a means of communicating with yourself and a way to encourage yourself on your journey through life. Sometimes the journey gets hard, so give yourself this support!

“I should advise you to put it all down as beautifully as you can … When these things are in some precious book you can go to the book & turn over the pages & for you it will be your church — your cathedral — the silent places of your spirit where you will find renewal — for in that book is your soul. ”

— Carl Jung

Mythos-Sphere is offering a 4-week journaling course, beginning this week. Inner+Outer Journaling is a practice designed to nurture your creative flow. Over 4 weeks, we’ll help you develop this simple habit, through writing, sketching, collage, reverie, meditation, and tuning into your location.

If you’re already a journaler, you’ll find that the group process adds a whole new dimension to the practice. Our course allows for sharing and working together through a weekly group meeting and other activities. Sharing is always optional, but it's quite wonderful how it creates an unfolding. People really discover, or I think, actually GROW, a common ground, while also learning about themselves.

Edit: June 2020 Inner+Outer Journaling has come and gone…But you can catch the next one coming up in January 2021. Check it out!

We’re all about creative expression, and the conversations and discoveries that go along with it.