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Every Life is a Story: introduction to my life-review practice
It has been said that we can trace our vocations back to early childhood. I can recall sitting on the threshold of the kitchen doorway at my grandparents’ house when I was nine or ten years old, listening to my parents, grandparents, and aunts and uncles share their stories.
Although I was too young to understand their tales, I was old enough to recognize that there was a connection between their sharing stories and their laughter. These sessions around the kitchen table changed them. My parents, normally tense and argumentative, became more relaxed, amenable, and loving. Sharing stories, I felt, had something to do with feeling good. I vowed that one day, I would discover this mysterious power of storytelling.
Not surprisingly, I integrated storytelling into my teaching and, later, swapped the classroom for the life of an itinerant storyteller. Building on my former career as a counsellor, my storytelling was largely therapeutic. I worked primarily with older adults, including many who were challenged by chronic (and often terminal) physical and mental illnesses. During this work, I came to appreciate the importance of helping older men and women share their life stories. Conducting life reviews revealed just how powerful — and healing — telling stories can be and I am grateful to be able to share in this…
