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In his book The Wounded Storyteller, Arthur Frank talks about how most people think that life is linear and progresses in a long, smooth line. However, for one reason or another, things can happen in our lives which make us feel that our stories are broken or we feel silenced or injured in some way. When we experience a loss of a loved one it can feel as though we have had a limb amputated or as though part of us is missing.

This year has been all about reconnecting with friends who I have not seen for a very long time.
During lockdown last year I reinstalled my landline! I have been so pleasantly surprised to find out that people still love to talk on the phone, especially some of my older and very much younger friends… Did you know talking one-to-one can have huge health benefits?

I mean the kind of bias that works against yourself – for instance ‘people don’t care too much about me’; ‘I’m not seeing the results I should be seeing so I can’t be that good’ or even, ‘I’ll never make it however hard I try’.

I’ve been writing a lot about the power of storytelling to change lives for my book. It’s given me the chance to reflect that when I started, I knew little about why I was researching this topic. Now I know there were two main reasons – one was interviewing other people about their very difficult lives helped me get out of a very limited view of my life.

This week we are halfway through the year. The six-month mark is a good moment to review our vision and goals for the year. You may have started out on your journey of transformation with high hopes but things may have got a bit stuck.