I feel privileged when they share their stories with me in their quest to understand and change their lives. I join them for a while on their voyage to make things better or to cope with things in their lives that cannot be changed. I believe in the power of stories. We are by nature story makers. Stories help us to understand our world, define our identities and create visions of preferred ways of being.
Stories can shape, encourage, inspire and heal, both in the telling and the hearing.
In short, I believe that stories have the power to transform. Each parent and child is an expert and source of meaningful stories worth sharing. In this column, I would like to create a space for people to share not only their parenting questions and dilemmas, but also, to share their parenting anecdotes and stories. Through e-mails and chats, we could each serve as links in the chain as we offer our ideas, thoughts and experiences. We could also consult with our children and share their perspectives on our most difficult issues.