Because I wrote my friend Christi’s memoir (Bittersweet: Faith Lost and Found, and the DNA Test that Brought a Baby Back to Life), I get asked, “Cat, do I have a story to tell? Would anyone be interested?”

Here’s my answer: “Yes, you have a story to tell.”

But here’s my caveat: “Not everyone is going to be interested.”

Let’s just first agree with the premise that EVERYONE has a story to tell. We all have various experiences in our lives that have impacted us greatly. And, those are our stories. That is YOUR story. Your story makes up who you are and what you believe. The things that have happened to you, shaped you and molded your character.

It’s like this: if you were the protagonist in a fiction book, your story would be your character arc. Your story would have a beginning, which is the point from where you started. It would also have a middle, which is the stuff that happened and how you reacted. And, then it would have an end, which is how you came out of it and how it changed you.

We can agree then, that by my definition, every one of us has a story to tell. Probably multiple stories. And maybe some are more impactful than others. Some of them last many years, while others may last months or even days. It depends on the story.

Buuuuut, would anyone be interested in your story?

Hm, this is a hard one. Maybe, maybe not. But, frankly, I don’t think it matters! Yes, you read that correctly, I don’t think it matters. I believe that your story is important to you, therefore it’s a story worth telling.

I believe you should concentrate less on who might be interested in your story, and just get down to telling your story in any way that seems right to you. It could be an essay, or a short story, or a graphic novel, or a speech, or a video, or a poem, or a memoir…or??

I believe that everyone has a story to tell. So, start telling.