I can still vividly remember the bedtime stories my mum used to tell to me when I was a little girl.

 

I remember the way her words would completely transport me to these unique and magical worlds.

 

Every single night, before falling asleep, I would beg her to tell me a tale. Even if I had heard the same one a hundred times before, they would still never cease to fill me with enchantement, adventure, and joy.

 

The stories were each a unique and beautiful creation of her own mind and heart.

 

It is only when I look back now that I can truly see, and fully appreciate, the subtle messages and life lessons my mum interweaved between those visions of fairies, mermaids and fishies. These messages, like codes, taught me what it meant to be an understanding, forgiving, caring, and resilient person.

 

To understand right from wrong, and to be kind.

 

The stories we surround ourselves with can shape our character, guide our growth, and introduce us to notions and ideas we might not have been exposed to yet.  Every person has their own story too. A unique and special narrative that plays out from the first day of birth to that last moment of life.

 

Within our world, hundreds and thousands of different lives and stories will interweave between one another. Like magic, they will thread in and out, through and around. At times we will swiftly come and go in another person’s life. Leaving the mere resemblance of a footprint. Barely recalled or recognised.

While other times our presence will be felt like thunder, and our absence like lightning.

Narrative is everywhere. It’s the news we read in the paper, the shows we see on T.V, the events that take place during our day, and the stories we tell in our heads.

 

We can’t escape it. But I doubt there is anyone who would want too either. The stories of life spark joy, excitement, and interest within our day to day existences. They give a greater meaning to all of this.

Our Narratives are what make our lives worth living.