The Emerging Intentions of Transformative Narratives

Greetings Friends,

Welcome to my first entry on my transformative narratives blog! I’ve contemplated starting a blog for a long time. I then got tangled up in the notion of not being able to do it on a regular basis, who would read it, would I run out of things to say, etcetera, etcetera! There’s nothing like just taking the plunge and seeing what happens!

What are transformative narratives? Simply put, transformative narratives 1) emerge from real and imagined visual, written, and spoken stories, that 2) become material to use for self-awareness, insight, and visioning, and 3) crystallize into deliberate actions for change. I’ve been using this method of transformative narratives my whole life--I just didn’t have a name or foundation for what I was doing. It was sort of journaling, sort of poem making or storytelling, and it was definitely thoughts that became words which motivated me to take action. Thanks for my experience in graduate school at Goddard College’s transformative language arts program, I studied deeply a variety of known bodies of work that supported my use of narratives.

In the early 1980s, I took a Franklin Planner class where part of the course entailed writing down goals and integrating them in my daily, weekly, and monthly calendars. This was a logical and mechanical process. Because my artist brain didn’t work so linear, I did more than write a goal sentence. My goal became a little story. In order for me to experience the goal, I stepped into my imagination and created a fictionalized story about me living and breathing that goal. It was so real, I could smell, taste, and touch it. Writing that visual image made such a difference. Having written the story, I could release it and be it.

Releasing a good story is like eating a fine meal at one of the Four Seasons five star restaurants. In the moment, each bite is delicious and savoring. Afterwards, your body digests it and moves on. The same goes with writing down your detailed narrative. You digest it and move on.

Not long after releasing your story, a magic begins to happen. People come forward to help manifest your story. Opportunities open up. Old habits are replaced by new and affirming practices. You begin anew.

As a mindfulness practitioner in the Thich Nhat Hanh tradition, we have a process call beginning anew. It’s a way to press the “reset” button by looking deeply into ourselves, clearing our minds, and releasing any attachment energy we may have mired in certain views, people, or things. This process allows us to start with an earnest focus toward a new intention. What a wonderful way to practice opening up goodness and happiness in your life!

Back to my Franklin planner, several years passed where I found my goal stories in a tattered leather three ringed notebook. I smiled as I read each page. Each goal had been accomplished. I purchased a beach house. I had two children. Started my own business. I completed graduate school. These ideas started as wishes, then moved into heartfelt narratives, and ultimately became a part of my reality.

My life’s work is to help myself and others use transformative narratives as a way to free ourselves from energies and stories that keep us captive in jobs, relationships, or conditions that work against our success and happiness. Please join me by learning about, experimenting with, and sharing your own transformative narratives.

Be Well,

Yvette