Owning our Stories

Brené Brown
from Wikipedia 

"True belonging doesn't require you to change who you are; it requires you to be who you are."

I came across this insight from Brené Brown and it resonated with me and the themes of my recent novel, Waltraut.                 

Waltraut sees herself as a victim … of bullying in school due to prejudice against immigrants, at church because of her ‘outsider’ father, and within her own family because of parental expectations. 

Her solution is to escape into books and her heroine becomes Nancy Drew. But Nancy Drew can’t solve Waltraut’s problems. It’s not until, as Brown says, she ‘owns’ her stories and accepts herself, that she moves forward. 

I hope Waltraut's story will help vulnerable young readers ‘own’ their stories so that they too can determine the direction of their lives. Our lives are story. Maybe we can’t choose the inciting incident or the page-turning plot points, but as imperfect first-person narrators, we get to choose the ending. Waltraut did. 

  “Owning our story and loving ourselves throughout that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do.” Brené Brown.

Nancy Drew modelled this courage so maybe she really did help Waltraut find herself.

― Brené Brown, Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone. The link leads to a YouTube conversation about the book.