It’s one of the first things I hear when people learn what I do.

 

“My life isn’t interesting enough to write about”. “Nobody wants to hear my story”.

 

Sometimes it’s said with a smile, sometimes with a shrug and sometimes with a quiet conviction that has likely been carried for many years.

 

Although, I may not agree, I understand why people think this way. Many of us spend our lives focused on everyone else. We raise children, build careers, care for aging parents, support friends, volunteer in our communities and simply do what needs to be done. We don’t stop to consider that, in the process, we’ve been creating a story unlike anyone else’s.

 

When I speak with people about preserving their life stories, not everyone chooses to take that first step. Many leave believing exactly what they believed when we spoke, that nobody would be interested in hearing their story. I always hope they’ll change their minds because every now and then, someone with that though process decides to take a leap of faith. They register for a workshop despite their doubts, they arrive on the first day a little nervous, wondering if they’ve made the right decision, they’re convinced everyone else has lived a more interesting life. 

 

These individuals in the beginning, usually listen more than they speak but before too long, something beautiful begins to happen. I deliver a prompt, a memory is shared, someone else smiles and says, “That happened to me too” and laughter fills the room.

Perhaps nother story brings a few tears, a stranger becomes a friend.

 

Week by week, the walls begin to come down. The person who believed they had nothing worth writing about starts remembering moments they hadn’t thought about in decades. They rediscover forgotten adventures, family traditions, life lessons, unexpected joys and the challenges they never realized they had overcome.

Before long, they’re no longer asking, “Who would want to hear my story”?

They’re saying, “I’d forgotten about that” or “I never realized how much that experience shaped who I am”. Seeing this first hand is truly one of the greatest privileges of my work.

 

People often think they’re joining a life story workshop to create something for their children or grandchildren. While that is certainly a wonderful gift, I’ve discovered that something even more meaningful often happens. Individuals begin giving a gift to themselves. They begin seeing their own lives through a different lens, the lens of time.

They recognize strengths they had overlooked, they appreciate challenges they overcame, they celebrate moments they had dismissed as ordinary, they begin to understand that their life has mattered, not because they were famous or wealthy or accomplished extraordinary things, but because they lived it! That realization is incredibly powerful.

 

To me, life story writing isn’t about proving your life was extraordinary.

It’s about discovering that it already was.

 

As I reflect on the many wonderful people I’ve had the privilege of meeting through Precious Words, I continue to be inspired by their resilience, humour, kindness, courage and wisdom. Every person has taught me something. Every story has reminded me that there truly is no such thing as an ordinary life.

 

If you’ve ever found yourself thinking, “My story isn’t worth telling,” I’d like to gently offer you a different perspective. Your story isn’t valuable because it’s perfect, it’s valuable because it’s yours. No one else has lived your life. No one else has loved the people you’ve loved, faced the challenges you’ve faced, or learned the lessons you’ve learned in your exact circumstances. That alone makes your story one of a kind.

 

Perhaps this month, you’ll take a small leap of faith, write down one memory.

Share one story with someone you love, or simply begin believing that your life is worthy of being remembered. Because it is.