Everything is a story. How we think about ourselves, how we think about the world. How the world is described, events in the present, in history.
The way we perceive ourselves, is a story. “I’m creative, I’m not good with numbers” or how about “I’m such a multi passionate, I can’t commit”.
It’s okay, of course. Us, the world, the past, everything, is too complex and too multi-faceted to be understood in all its glory. Stories help us make things manageable, they help us make sense of things. A story simplifies and streamlines, puts emphasis on the big things and smooths out the stuff that complicates things unnecessarily. They make life easier but they can also trap us.
I've been thinking about many of the stories that I come across in the world. Reality shaped by words.
And of course my own "invisible scripts" - the deeply help beliefs that I don't even realise I can challenge. Here are a few examples:
"I'm Finnish, therefore I..." - what can I contribute to my own experience and what to some inborn quality just because I was born and raised in Finland.
"I'm not very good with detail" - totally untrue, if I so wish. Just not my greatest strength
"I find it really hard to commit" - another untruth, if I look at the things that I find most important in life.
Choose your stories carefully.