This may be a biased opinion coming from a former journalism/film student, but I think stories bring hope in a way that few things could challenge.  The fact that everyone has a story is, or at least can be, a unifying factor, presenting the chance for people from every background to partake in a greater appreciation for humanity, life, individual challenges and victories at every level.  To hear someone else's story is to be invited into something bigger than yourself.   Listening presents the chance to be changed into something more than what you were before being invited into a portion of the mystery of another's life.  What an honor.

Which makes me wonder how high the stakes are in the pursuit of an authentic, genuine life.  A listening life.  A fully engaged life.  It seems logical to me that if a story holds in it the potential of being a transforming agent to those who observe it, who are welcomed into it, there must be serious obstacles to living from the heart in a way that is fully present and wide awake.

It takes courage to tell your story, which to me, really means that it takes courage to live it well.   It takes courage to stay engaged, especially in the times of dullness, where it would be so much easier to surrender to the numbing effect of routine instead of allowing even what is mediocre to transform and inspire.