We spoke with different voices, but when she was telling me her story her words became my words.

Kate Cruise O’Brien

Different voices connect through story. Like bones, muscles, ligaments, and tendons allow our bodies to move, our stories allow us to understand the mechanics of our interdependence. We know it when our voices dance with another’s — and our voice includes our words and how we use them. When know it when another’s words become our words — and our experiences do not have to be similar. Another’s words can become our words when expansive experiences leave us changed. We know it when words fail, and something beyond language tells the story.

I am thinking about the value of telling our stories and listening to stories that differ from ours. It is deep work that changes us and our world. From a story space, we all know what we all carry — the details, the contours, the pains, the joys. Sharing what we carry lightens the load and lessens isolation. From a story space, our complex histories don’t separate but connect us and point us toward justice, peace, and love. From a story space, we create, imagine, and build.