Finding Your Unique Advantage To Tell Your Story
I've mentioned a couple of times that we all have a story that is also our testimony, and the importance of sharing that story. The beauty of this is also that there are an infinite amount of ways that you can share that story. One size doesn't fit all and that's why we've all been gifted differently.
Camille A. Brown - Photo by Matt Karas, courtesy of Ordway
One person who's chosen to use her gift to express her story is dancer Camille A. Brown. In "Black Girl: Linguistic Play," which played at the Joyce Theatre in New York last month, she "explores black female identity by transporting her dancers and audience to the playground," as described by the New York Times.
Using a familiar scene that most African-American girls can relate to, Brown is able to address such topics as rivalry, forgiveness, and friendship. As one viewer put it in the Amsterdam News, she may not be a dance critic or expert, however she was once a black girl. "I have experienced the cold realities of the world through the eyes of a black girl. I know what it is like to have centuries of non-Black girls tell my story" Christina Greer writes. Greer also reports that Brown explains at the end of the play that she gave herself "the permission" to tell her own story - our story.
[Related: Issa Rae's Story & The Importance of YOUR Black Girl Story]
So I ask you, what's your story? You may think your story is insignificant and unrelatable, but if there's one thing I'm sure of it's that what we go through is rarely, dare I say never, about us alone. You have the ability to encourage somebody else, coach someone else, help them through what you've been through. It doesn't have to be on a one-on-one basis at all. I'm sure there where people in the audience who don't have a newspaper outlet to express the impact of seeing their own childhood on stage had on them personally. That doesn't make it any less impactful.
You can tell your story through whatever medium and gift God has blessed you with. In my blog post about Steve Harvey's SOAR retreat I touched on the fact that you are enough, as is what you have. By that I mean, use what's currently in your possession and ability to obtain to share your gift and story.
[Related: What I Learned from Steve Harvey About Dreaming Your Way to Wealth]
Camille has been dancing for years, gained respect and influence, won a Bessie award for outstanding performance, and is now using her platform to tell her story. But she started where everyone else starts, at the beginning. No one starts at the top, so if your beginning is writing an e-book, singing in the church choir, dancing and performing at the local theatre, then start there. Even Whitney Houston started in the church choir, and '50 Shades of Grey' was originally an e-book.
So because no one can tell your story like you, get creative and find purpose in your passion. Don't be scared, you got this.
Be blessed!