the power of stories.

I've been intrigued recently - intrigued by this idea of stories. Books have always been like entering into Narnia for me...this passage way into another world, another life. Reading and soaking in page after page after page of stories: adventure, love, injustice, friendship, war, travel, heartbreak, justice, enemies, beauty. The list goes on and on. But these aren't the kind of stories I'm talking about. These stories, while beautifully and thoughtfully penned, aren't always the ones that grasp your soul.

I have become obsessed with stories. Real, raw, messy, true stories of actual people who have actual faces and breath actual breathe and are living their story fully. The kinds of stories that are only a piece of this messy reality we find ourselves in. The kinds of stories that hit our gut because we see ourselves there. Or maybe we don't see ourselves there and sometimes that can hit just as hard. The kind of stories that give hope. The kind of stories that show wounds. Stories about love, joy and dreaming. Stories about heartbreak, pain and disappointment.

"It's never as black and white as we want it to be...Especially when someone's story gets injected into the conversation. All of a sudden, it gets messy. But it's better if it's messy, I think."

Too often, we hide our stories. Our real stories. Our voices are silenced by the rising call for perfectionism in the world. So we have learned to live behind the protective walls of the stories that sound nice. That are heart warming. That bring a smile or a laugh.

But what about the other half of our stories? What about the stories that we can't tell without tears springing to our eyes? What about the stories that still break our hearts to think about? What about the stories that show brokenness - our own, another's or the world's? What about the stories that don't have a happy ending? When we only tell half our story, we let the world and it's raging obsession with image win out.

"When we listen to voices that have become silenced, we become more fully human."

Since living in Nicaragua, these untold stories are the ones I seek. The ones I want to know. The ones I need my heart to hear. The story behind the begging eyes of the child who taps on my window at the stop sign. The story behind the family who lives at the stoplight selling newspapers. The story behind the waitress at the coffee shop with a shy smile. The story behind the window washer with missing teeth. The story behind the girl with only one hand who stands at the tree. The story behind a high school girl who hides her pain behind the mask of a smile.

There is something supernatural that happens when someone shares their story. Their own story, in their own voice. Their words told to to the world, out loud or written, hold a specific type of power for the story teller and the listener. A power to transform, change, touch, connect, free.

"Stories can change us, change the hearts of others, and change the world. It's my prayer that this book gives you the freedom to speak. And when you do speak, I expect the world around you to look a bit more hopeful, bright and good."

**all quotes taken from Nish Weiseth's book, Speak. Highly recommended.**