The Art of Storytelling Through Scars

Finding new ways to look at the marks we carry

I spent 5 minutes doing something a little different last weekend. Something I’d been preparing for since November, after attending a meeting of the Northwest chapter of the National Speakers Association.

I decided to sign up for a challenge. Actually is was a contest. The Last Story Standing contest.

It was an opportunity to hone your storytelling skills, be expertly coached, and ultimately compete against 9 other professional speakers from our local chapter. We were given 5 minutes to tell a story — if we went one second over, we’d be disqualified.

Game on!

I’d spoken in front of numerous audiences of various sizes before this event, but never in a storytelling-only format. I was intrigued . . . and ready to jump in. Happily it turned out to be one of my favorite experiences of the past year.

The big question I was now asking myself: what story do I tell?

From day one, I had one in mind: an experience from my college days I’d been starting to do some work on, and wanted to create more content around. I called my story “An Unlikely Friend” — it’s about a topic you might not expect: scars. It revolves around the stories our scars tell, our relationships to marks on our bodies, and how something born from pain can transform into a symbol of strength, resilience, and forgiveness.

Check it out here:

Bringing this experience from my past back into my current life has rendered more perspectives, and further healing. It gave me an opportunity to work through my emotions even further, as I wove a story that would both resonate with people and encourage new ways to relate to their scars.

We’ve all been marked by many things in our lives — both physically and mentally. How might we look at our scars in a new light, and learn from them? To see them as companions, or even friends . . . rather than stains to cover up, or make disappear.

I hope you enjoy my story, and would love to hear what it surfaces for you. And what your scars might be telling you after watching it.

With gratitude,

If you’d like to talk about storytelling, learn more about my speaking programs, or having me to speak to your team, let’s have a conversation.

Find more information about me and Weller Collaboration at wellercollaboration.com

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