Using Story to Understand Your Journey
Story Grammar is a way to construct “Cohesive Narrative”. It is a way to put the pieces of your story together in a meaningful way. I learned about this in my undergraduate and graduate work when I learned about how children develop Narrative Discourse. Then I learned about it again from Mary Ellen Moreau, from Mind Wing Concepts as a Speech and Language Tool to help the children I work with to comprehend and express material read or spoken to them.
Then I learned about how powerful it is in the Post Traumatic Growth literature. When I realized that the children I worked with had very fragmented language, and had experienced significant trauma, I taught them how to use Story Grammar to talk about who they were and what they were experiencing at school so I could learn more about their language and connect with them.
Then I began to use it as a tool for my own reflection. I wanted to make sure that I was clear about
Who I was,
Where I had been,
When I had been in those places,
What happened when I was there and
How I felt about what happened
Wow, all the pieces in one place. The key for retelling your story is how you put the pieces together. The type of language you use to connect all the parts is where “cohesion” comes in to play. Are you putting the events together and using words like “and” and “so” or are you keeping them separate by using words like “but” and “however”. Words make a difference.
The integration of our experiences into a cohesive story makes it easier to move through our life. We gain clarity and a sense of self that provides a level of confidence in our day to day decision making and how we express our needs and desires.
Once you understand your Journey to a certain point, you can begin to live each day with a sense of “cohesion” and understand what you do and why you do it. Your choices become more intentional and meaningful.
The most powerful part of using story to understand your journey is to process emotions. You can bring yourself to a feeling, have it, let it move through you and then move on! You can realize that the story is continuing to change because it is “a story”. You can narrate your story for the next day and the next year. Imagination and creativity are the way our future is formed. When we live in a state of excitement and acceptance of change, we can become integrated with the possibilities that we can create. I once told myself a story about living on this island, I visualized it, I surrounded myself with pictures of it, I felt what it felt like when I was once there, and here I am. Looking back, my story became my reality. The story continues…
If you would like to learn more about how to write or tell your story, contact me at jessiegrahahmcoach@gmail.com . Together we can cohesively co-create the change you desire!