The Power of a Story: A Reflection on a Year of ButterTree & Biscuits / a picture of a mother and daughter looking at an album

The Power of a Story

Melissa Gosselin

Happy Wednesday, everyone! As I mentioned in my last post, ButterTree & Biscuits is a year old! Throughout this year, I’ve sifted through my past . . . I’ve had long chats with old friends so that I could harvest stories. The experience of writing about small moments has been transformative! I’ve learned so much about the people in my life and myself. But, sometimes, we need to take space to consolidate the lessons. For that reason, ButterTree & Biscuits will be taking a break. The time away will be used to reflect on different ways to connect to the ButterTree community. 

Of course, I wanted to leave you all with some food for thought, so today I'm summarizing a year in stories!

Home, family, and human connection 

In my introductory post for ButterTree & Biscuits, I promised to reflect on home, family, and human connection. So I wrote about long-distance relationships . . . I reflected on how to keep families close. And one of my first posts was about how I could maintain a relationship with my mom even though she had recently passed away. 

Human connection was the theme that tied all the posts together. And for me, human connection comes from shared experiences, shared stories — from telling the truth about who we are.

The power of stories 

We recall past events differently — we notice different details. I think what we remember says a lot about what our values are and, ultimately, about who we are as people. What are the underlying themes in our lives? What are the motifs? Who are the recurring characters? 

I believe that after someone tells us a story, their perspective lives within us. My mom and I spent many long afternoons talking about our lives and the experiences that shaped us. I know my mom’s scariest experiences, her loneliest, her most joyful, and her most triumphant. Because of this, I see the world through her lens. Because of this, she lives on, even though she’s no longer physically here.

So, I hope you’ve enjoyed being on this journey with me. I hope some of these reflections inspired you to think about your own relationships and experiences.

Wishing you all the best!

Melissa

 

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