Everyone has a story to tell. Now a national group comes to Fresno to hear ours

I believe in the power of stories. People think in stories. We understand the world through stories. We make decisions based on stories. We organize our lives in stories. Through stories we share compassion.

Stories teach us how to feel and experience, they provide an emotional map to navigate our lives. Stories uncover life lessons and allow us to accept chapters that are unfinished, unpolished and unresolved. In a world where data is beginning to rule our lives, stories help add a human element: emotions. Through stories we can explore deeper meanings that statistics ignore. We make sense of the world beyond “just the facts” and value emotionalized information that lies at the heart of real life.

The best stories are specific, honest, authentic and real. They are the superpower that bonds us with others and constructs our identities. Everyone has stories, every voice counts. These are the narratives that drive our lives as we pass experience and wisdom from generation to generation.

Felt understanding — that’s the magic of stories. Personal narratives allow us to see through the eyes of others and create empathy, something we need so desperately in today’s toxic political climate. We are able to move beyond our individual and too often narrow thinking and instead create value through shared emotions. Stories can teach us how to act and grow.

Narratives help ideas spread; they become contagious as we communicate with each other. Yet toxic stories continue to spread false and painful information — that’s often at the heart of prejudices and ignorance. But our hope is that over time, lies are uncovered and right overcomes wrong. That’s where real stories, with their complex space for feelings, can connect rather than divide us. Imagine stopping to listen deeply to others and empowering others by hearing their stories of grit, heart, compassion, sorrow, pain, grief and regret. These emotions will trigger our own stories of empathy and an understanding based on emotions beyond simple and often narrow judgments.

At the heart of all stories lies questions. Are we willing to ask hard questions that can lead to a deeper understanding of our world? To be interested and not simply interesting. Life embodies more than business and money and politics. Life advances from lived experiences. Ultimately, stories bolster a public sharing of beliefs and experiences.

I hope the best stories fill my life, not the hot fixation of opinions that dominate social media. I look into the rearview mirror of life and sense an unfolding and sweeping tide of history framed by the important stories that stick to my memories and carry meaning. Even in today’s seemingly tumultuous political universe, my sense of that something personal — the death of my sister, the crisis of immigration in our valley, the conflicts of those with mental disabilities, the struggle of small businesses like family farms and the challenges of labor, prices, and climate change — all outstrip the news and evolve into stories of significance. Local and personal, that’s where the truly meaningful backstories of life happen.

As time passes, good stories should survive and the bad will fade, part of a cycle of maturing and accepting. Bad stories can overpower the immediate and create temporary confusion. We mistake these as “the news” while ignoring the longer perspective of life and distilling what truly has meaning.

Stories engage both the head and the heart and can inspire change. Stories affect both individual and collective behavior with the potential to go viral and reach a broader audience based on thought, emotion and ultimately actions.

Let’s strive to preserve and share the best of humanity and our collective stories. Stories of joy and pain, struggle and accomplishment. To be human and inspire positive change, we inherit stories of the past and can leave significant stories for the future.

We will have an opportunity to share our stories: StoryCorps is coming to Fresno from mid-February through March. This nonprofit organization collects and records stories from anyone about anything and makes them available — from a limited documentation for family or becoming part of a collective history at the Library of Congress. Their specially designed Airstream mobile tour studio will park in downtown Fresno. Organizers invite us to share and record our stories.

For more information, go to https://storycorps.org/stops/mobile-stop-san-joaquin-valley/ or contact StoryCorps at: mobiletour@storycorps.org.

So tell me a story...