A Bridge To Change

Sharing our stories, powerfully builds understanding.

What I know for sure is that when we share our stories with each other, we build bridges to change.

By bravely and authentically exchanging the sacred stories that have shaped us, we gain understanding, compassion, and insight into another fellow human’s life experiences. Our knowledge and our hearts expand. Our eyes are opened and our awareness is deepened. The opportunity to genuinely relate with others whom might have had very different experiences than our own is created and we can find solace with others whom have been through similar experiences as we have. We evolve as individuals and as a society through these forged connections established by sharing our stories and bridging divides.

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Storytelling has always been a constant thread I pull as I bring forth my children. Through stories, for example, I teach my children why we have the family values that we do, what are the reasons for our daily and annual rituals, and how our ancestors’ lives were different from our own today.

I have watched my children be shaped by the stories they are exposed to from not only me but also from their friends, the books they read, the movies they watch, and the people they study in school.

We all are touched, and if we allow it, even changed, by the profound stories that we have been given the honor to have shared with us.

And as a woman who is raising a son, who by virtue of being male, if left to society’s center of gravity will be an understudy of patriarchy, I purposefully, consciously, and age appropriately share with him what it means to be a woman living in a society where men for centuries have dominated, oppressed, and exploited women.

I share with him the stories of women, including myself, who have been transgressed against in ways both big and small by our patriarchal social structures and practices. By sharing with him my personal stories, that is to say the stories of his own mother, and by explaining types of circumstances his younger sister stands to possibly face, he is changed. He wants better for us. For all of us. For all the women and also for the men.

He understands how important it is for women to have equal rights, to have sovereignty over their bodies, and to be safe from violence and misogyny. Because he understands intuitively how important it is for men to have the exact same rights. That they are human rights.

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Sharing our stories builds the necessary bridges of understanding from which we can be changed and enact change.

What story do you want to share? That you need to share?

Where do you want to go? What bridge is important for you to build to get there?

What I know for sure is that when we share our stories with each other, we build bridges to change.

I encourage us to share our stories. For when we do, we are creating a bridge, a pathway, to change us all, one story at a time.

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