Recently I had the opportunity to attend a conference where I got to hear an inspiring and passionate woman, Hope Hall, speak about the power of story and the need for authenticity in our story telling.
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Hope served as President Obama’s second-ever and first female principal presidential videographer in the White House office from 2008-17, during which time she created more than 500 videos of behind the scenes moments in the White House and Obama’s presidency.
From the nine years working in the White House and focusing on telling an authentic story, Hope came away with a few simple tools or lessons: be kind and be useful, compassion is the highest form of critical thinking and go towards the good – the good people and good moments.
The need in us all to share our story has become a strong theme in our connection with community in recent times. The need is different in us all – some want their chance to be heard, some want to inform others so they make different, more informed choices, while for some it is simply the want to be remembered once they are gone. We all have a story and the power in the story is only as strong as the ability in us all to listen.
I often think of how fortunate I am to have grown up in a story telling-rich home. Listening to my grandfather’s ditties, my father’s stories of his childhood, and my grandmother’s adventures of leaving her home country to marry the love of her life. To have grown up appreciating the story someone has to share and the strength and power the story can give you, but moreover the strength your listening can also give the story holder. However, I know I am now even more fortunate to be given the privilege of being trusted with others’ stories.
Sometimes these are the stories of people I know, sometime they are strangers to me, but I am always struck by the gratitude I feel to be trusted with their story; often a story of loss, pain, trauma, hopelessness. And in the telling and in listening, often a path can become clearer. Stories have always been the way we have shared our history, honoured our past and shared learning. Story telling is a part of us all, it is how we connect with our world, how we make sense of our lives and how we share with others. So share your stories, they are meaningful and important, but please listen to others’ stories too – because they have power.
