“The significance—and ultimately the quality—of the work we do is determined by our understanding of the story in which we are taking part.” —Wendell Berry

Our oldest daughter was a very precocious child and exuberant early talker, in full sentences, with exceptional intonation, rhythm, and clarity. Yes…non-stop-run-on-stunningly-astute-commentary-in-surprisingly-grown-up-language-about-everything-she-was-thinking-or-noticing-around-her-or-within-her-in-any-particular-moment. By the time she was two and a half years old, random people who overheard her ongoing narration would look and ask, “How old is that child?” She loved thoughts, ideas, facts, language, and stories from the womb. From Pythagorean Theorem to Mozart, she was actively responsive to language and music. One of her favorite games we played anywhere anytime when she needed to be engaged was called “add on stories.” I would start with a phrase: “Once there was a little girl and…” she would take up the thread and add her own piece of the story, “and, and, and she was an artist who one day  found a collie…” I would respond with, “and the collie said to the little girl….” (You get the idea.) We loved those add on stories and how they wound around and went in unexpected places based on the reality of our daily lives, yet infused with the power of her vivid imagination and dreams. On long road trips, she would play along with great embellishment. What I wouldn’t give to have recordings of these spontaneous adventures because our stories matter.

I believe the history of us all in our stories. From listening and reading them to watching them unfold on a screen, we naturally appreciate stories. We live our lives through the stories we tell, the stories we hear, the stories we hold dear, the stories we add onto, and the stories we must let go. Our stories hold, lift up, or shift our perception to help frame our reality because our stories matter.

Stories help us honor the work we choose to do each day. In reality, each day’s story is the next chapter of the ultimate story in each of our lives. During these past recent days in particular, there is an urgency to hold close those stories that keep resilience and boldness alive. We need our stories to help us embrace what is beautiful and joyous in our lives. We need to help one another remember that some of the most powerful stories often have moments where events go someplace we did not expect…to places where dreams unravel, only to be rediscovered, picked up, and carried onward. This is a challenging time in our country to gather with one another because the add-on story we are choosing to participate in, is not ours to carry alone. Our collective national story is one we carry together. We must add-on; keep telling, reimagining, and co-creating our story together. We have the magic, the mystery, and the majesty within us because, indeed, our stories matter.