Why Are Stories Important?

"We ought to step out of our old, hard casing. We think we are one kind of people, when in fact we are always creating ourselves. We are not fixed. We are constantly becoming, constantly coming into being. Writers hold out the mirror to the bright visions of what we can be."
Ben Okri

Stories: we write them, we create them, we inspire them, we share them, we live them, we tell them, we shape them and we are shaped by them. Stories: powerful, important and necessary. We are all walking stories: this is mine, what is yours, why are they important and why do we need to tell them, share them and write them?

Personally, I love to write and I write a lot. I keep about 4-5 journals at a time and go through daily diaries within 2-3 months. There is something so raw, magical, enchanting, freeing, enlightening and empowering about the written word. I feel that to write is to bleed a little, to break a little, to open up a little, to see a little, to be a little, to cry and smile and laugh and believe, a little.

To write is to understand that pain can feel so real at the time and so imaginary in hindsight. To write is to feel alive when you feel drained and to feel acknowledged when you feel under appreciated. To write is to heal, to develop, to explore and to leave a footprint in the story of humanity: maybe one that will one day inspire someone else on their journey.

That's why we need writers and books and stories. That's why I feel we need all sorts of writers: those who write poetically, theoretically, logically, philosophically, simply, traditionally, abstractly and imaginatively, because every writer touches a soul in a special way and every story resonates with a person depending on the experience and maturity that they can apply to it.

We need writers so that we may see our lives and understand them too. Stories show us different perspectives: perspectives that we might not have considered or even imagined, simply because we were so submerged in our situation that we couldn't see anything else.

More importantly, stories need to be documented and shared to connect us with each other and show that we have more similarities than differences. I'm documenting and sharing my story with the hope that it empowers someone with their life. I'm telling my story so that someone can read it and say: "Oh my goodness! I am not alone! Someone understands me!" That's why stories are important: they help us unite in a world where we sometimes feel alone and divided.

The other reason they are important is because they help us re-create ourselves. I wasn't happy with the trajectory of my story so I did something to change it. What's your story? How do you feel about it? Who would you tell it? And if you're unhappy with it, what would you do to change it?