The Gift of Story

Father’s Day 2021 I was given the best gift this dad could receive - an excuse to write stories. What Kirsten did was buy a year-long subscription to Storyworth. Every Monday morning I receive a question prompt to focus my storytelling. The website allows subscribers, in this case my family, to cull through a selection of questions and pick the 52 that will make up the year-long project. Every time I respond to a question the website sends out my response to the subscribers. At the end the stories will are bound together in a book and sent to the person that subscribed in the first place.

I know this sounds like a lot of work with very little reward for me, but the process of scrounging around in my past has been worth it. Many of the questions have probed the depths of my values and experiences while others have provided me opportunities for fun and laughter. I’ve now completed the project, added some photos and had books made for both Kirsten and Hannah. I trust that they will treasure some of these stories written for them.

The topics that have been covered aren’t your typical casual conversations and as such I believe is something that can reveal a bit more about yourself to those you care about. What is remarkable is that during this time I’ve also been learning a lot more about true vulnerability. Perhaps I’m a bit late to the Brene Brown craze, but I’m learning ways that shame has hindered my ability to live an authentic life. Telling my stories has given me a confidence in my own experience. As I’ve told people about this project, several have said that they would love to hear some of these stories as well. So I’ve decided that I will continue this process responding to weekly questions. Some of the stories will be fun and humorous and others might cause some tears to well up.