Hello Storytellers and Story-lovers,

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Have you ever thought about why people feel the urge to share stories? Why do we weave words together, create narratives or write down thoughts about our own stories and those of others? Well, we write to express ourselves, to connect with others. It is a form of communication after al

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‘I began to write because I just knew there were stories I wanted to tell.’

- Octavia Butler

 

  Storytelling is passed down to us through our parents, grandparents, our deep ancestors, and the people we grow up with. Our ears begin to appreciate the soothing effect of stories even before our brains can process meanings. From a very young age, most of us loved listening to stories, becoming enraptured by them. Scientists say that a baby starts to understand speech even before they begin to speak. Their imagination is triggered by the pace and tone of voice. The magic of the intuitive language that storytelling carries makes the green fields of human imagination grow greener and wilder even before all words make sense

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As humans learn to communicate verbally, stories help us understand our existence. By being immersed in fairy tales and fables, myths, poems, songs we discover sides of ourselves in different contexts.  Stories also provide a reassurance that we exist along with a profound relief that we are not alone. Having a place in the narratives around us, gives us a space in the broader narrative of human existence. Therefore, we belong. This makes storytelling an integral part of our identity and gives context and deeper meaning to being human

 

We also write in order to find a more harmonious co-existence with memory and trauma. Writing is revisiting the past, and that makes it a form of ‘spiritual psychoanalysis’. To write, we must go down memory lane and visit rooms in our subconscious that haven’t been opened for years or decades. Rooms that often hide dark, complex, painful memories. For writers these memories are grist for the mill. Material. That’s the brilliant thing about writing: Literally everything is usable material. The artist observes anthropologically, or remembers vividly, and uses that in her art.

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Some of us may feel that by sharing our stories we redefine our identity. Growing up, we learn to understand our identity as part of a family, a social group and through the eyes and habits of others. Our parents give us a name. Societies operate under sets of rules, cultural norms, and subjective interpretations, which we learn to accept as natural and correct. We are taught to live and operate in specific ways and we are given labels that we did not select. Writing is a torch, shining a light on a the path ahead. It is about self-exploration, a journey into our psyche, a dialogue with the authentic voice of our soul.

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I once asked my father, a playwright, poet, and journalist, what prompted him to become a writer:

 

'Emotional pain,’ he said. ‘I began to write out of a need to create a world where I could create my own identity and escape the painful reality around me.'  

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Human suffering, whether physical, emotional or existential, is present to some degree in all of our lives, and writing helps us translate, understand and manage it. By writing things down and sharing them we feel less alone, more connected. Sometimes leaving some work behind also gives us the illusion of immortality. 

I write for all the reasons above. Also because my mind is inhabited by complex characters with whom I’m in a constant dialogue. These characters want me to tell their stories, and they keep nudging me to share mine.

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Let's start! 

Elizabeth