Stories We Tell

Stories we tell ourselves - and, thus, directly or indirectly, others.

From the book The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown  [see James River Writers website for this years Conference information!]

“We all have stories we tell ourselves.  We tell ourselves we are too fat, or too ugly, or too old, or too foolish.  We tell ourselves these stories because they allow us to excuse our actions, and they allow us to pass off the responsibility for things we have done—maybe to something within our control, but anything other than the decisions we have made.”

“…..And it is past time, I think, for you to stop telling that particular story, and tell the story of yourself.  Stop defining yourself in terms of them.  You don’t just have to exist in the empty spaces they leave.  There are times in our lives when we have to realize our past is precisely what it is, and we cannot change it.  But we can change the story we tell ourselves about it, and by doing that, we can change the future.”

So…. As writers we all have stories to tell.  They might be short, or long, or as poetry, but they are ours to tell.  

What is the story you tell yourself about that writer within you?

Whatever it is…..is it time to change it?    For the better.

As in previous blog post I made about Noah Scalin comments from March JRW Writing Show [blog post on March 31^st if you want to look] - sometimes it’s good, sometimes okay.  And sometimes it’s just done.

The stories we tell ourselves shape our lives and our world….

What are you telling?