This Holiday Season: Sharing Stories That Unite Us

This holiday season, what if we turned the spotlight to family stories? What if we could get really intentional about gathering them, listening to them, even recording them?

Sharing family stories now may be more important than ever, a positive way to dial down the potentially divisive atmosphere of politics stoked by the tense election season.

Think of your gatherings as opportunities for the best kind of gift exchange. It’s old school, it’s time tested and it’s enduring.

If you haven’t already, maybe now is the time to embrace ancient oral storytelling traditions. Maybe now is the time to share knowledge, culture, and ideas through speech, through song, and even through shared silence. Sharing family stories curates a family culture of curiosity and caring. Plus, family gatherings are rare occasions when multiple generations are sharing food, space, and time. What a gift! These moments are ideal for asking questions and building connections.

Watch the eyes of grandparents light up when someone takes a genuine interest in their stories. Then watch them reverse age before your eyes as they travel through story to another time and place. Feel your own eyes illuminate when that grandparent asks about your life then listens with love.

What if we prepare ourselves to be focused on the stories that unite us?

• Did you know … the currency grandpa used to purchase that land was eggs? 

• Did you know … she had a gift for learning foreign languages?

• Did you know … they took only two vacations in their lifetime?

• Did you know … what games they played as kids? 

• Did you know … the courage they’ve shown throughout their life?

This holiday season, we have a choice. We can lean into the opportunity to connect.  And we can reach across the table with curiosity through attention, patience and kindness.  

If we try it, maybe it’s a way to make the world a better place, starting right here, right now. It’s a form of ‘think globally, act locally.’

A caring story exchange may well be the number one, best, ultimate gift exchange.