Personal stories journal

This page is part of a series on journaling.

Introduction

I admire people who can tell a good story. It seems to be a skill in decline, but it can be developed with practice!

Theory of identity

If we were unlimited beings, we would be everywhere in all times. Therefore, we are limited beings. This means we have a narrative, because there is a start and an end. What constitutes our identity is exactly this narrative, it’s the sequence of all our experiences that make up who we are. The more we take ownership of our narrative, the more we master our identity.

The reason we humans communicate is to tell a story and bring the listener through a transformation. A story has a moment of transformation, of beauty, emotion, perhaps a revelation. A story moment only lasts a few seconds, but it is the crux of the story. There is an identity before this transformation moment, and a different identity after, born from the ashes of the previous disintegrated identity. Before the moment, I thought I was this and I saw the world like this. But then I became that, and now I see the world slightly differently.

Material

The Moleskine Classic Notebook, Hard Cover, Large (5" x 8.25") Ruled/Lined, Black (Amazon.ca).

Methodology

Before going to bed, after doing my daily journal, I open my personal stories journal and I ask myself: If I had to tell a 5 minutes story about a moment from my day, what would be this moment?

Sometimes I write more than one story. I can also write a story from my past if I remember it now.

As a personal goal, I try to come up with humorous moments because I feel it’s missing in my life and in my speech, so I need to collect more humour material!

References

• Inspired by Matthew Dicks, Homework for Life.
• I recommend Matthew Dick’s book, Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life Through the Power of Storytelling.
• See also Daily journal, another of my journals. Often, these two journals will have similar contents but they have a different focus.

This is Matthew Dicks giving his Homework for Life speech at TEDxBerkshires: