Everyone Has A Story to Tell…. and here’s mine

Gary Younge starts his inspired book “Who Are We – and should it matter in the 21st century?” by saying’:

“Everybody has a story. Not, for most of us, a grand overarching narrative that draws together the various strands of our life into one neat, consistent thread but a collection of unique, discrete and occasionally contradictory chapters that come together only in the telling. Few of these tales belong to us entirely. We arrive in the middle of a random variety of stories and then set about weaving some together and discarding others in a bid to write our own… We have a decision about which events will influence us and how, but we rarely get to choose the events themselves. Refusing to recognise your influences is not the same as not having them. It simply disables you from interrogating them to find out why and how they have had the effect they have… The facts are there, but these are stories.”

A few months ago, I was approached to share my story with the world, in particular my inspiration and my motivation. I was sent eight pages of a handmade journal to fill in any way I pleased. The purpose of the project was to inspire other young women, with what I had done and why. When I thought about it, I realised the only way I could answer this question was with my own personal journey, as where else does inspiration and motivation find you.

The Five Titles in the Shape What’s to Come Travelling Journals Project

The project was created by Levis, whose Sustainability policy, which you can read here is innovative (I have noticed the words organic and fairtrade missing from the cotton page though, and am in the process of finding out more) The idea was to celebrate that for the first time in history, women in their twenties are shaping what’s to come in different industries. The physical journals which have been hand bound are going to be on exhibition at the inaugural TED Womens Conference next month in Washington D.C. They have also been put online for all to see.

The Forward To The Journal

It has been really nice to share this with people close to me, and the experience of writing it, made me feel that it really is something that we all should do, if only for ourselves.  So if reading mine or any of the other journal entries, in any way inspires you to write something for yourself, please make the time to do so.

Download the PDF to read the story here