I recently heard the refrain above and in its simple wording, I found great resonance with the effects of personal story sharing.
I’ve heard hundreds of stories while running Self Narrate over the past few years. I’ve heard people’s stories, both happy and sad, with moments both beautiful and tragic. When I hear someone‘s story, especially when one shares their vulnerability, I feel an intense connection with them. Even if we only see each other one or two times, they are forever part of my life because I was privileged to share in their story.
It has not always been easy disconnecting from the storyteller when they, for whatever reason, disengage with Self Narrate functions. Like when someone shares stories at a few meetups and then stops attending, I often wonder where they’ve been and what they’re up to and how their stories have continued. We are connected.
But that’s life. We come and go in each others’ lives. We pass through. This song helped me recognize that that's what we're doing, passing through. Hearing and sharing our stories with each other is one way that we can give the gift of our self to others. We can pour out our hard-won wisdom and experiences and connect. We get to pass through each others' lives for a moment, but that moment is one that we get to share.
We should be grateful that we got to have the interaction, because of all the people in the world and places we could have been, we got to share in a moment and a story with each other, which is a wonderful gift. Tell the people that you saw me passing through.
EDITOR'S NOTE - If you'd like to hear the song Passing Through, here is a link to the most well known version, a cover by Leonard Cohen.
