A key theme that’s emerging as I write my book, Three Stories, is the importance of context.
When I was going through multiple and significant mental health challenges as a teenager, I wish I had had the context that I have today.
My heart pulls in the direction of any young person who finds themselves facing similar challenges to what I faced growing up.
And as you’ve probably heard, we’re living in an epidemic of mental health crises for young people – driven in large part by the circumstances of the Covid pandemic.
I’ve mostly come out the other side of my mental health challenges.
But I recall years of being stuck in a downward spiral of gloom; exhausted by the demands of life, and confused by the swirl of emotions, thoughts and physical demands on my life.
There was worse stuff as well, but I’m not going there right now.
So here I am, writing Three Stories to help offer some much-needed context – a simple framework for people to navigate the complexities and chaos of life.
The framework is simple; it has to be.
Simplicity makes it memorable; simplicity makes it accessible.
These are the three stories:
Micro stories – The small things we can do right now, that may seem insignificant in and of themselves, but the very act of doing them often leads to great things.
Macro stories – The more complex projects which take time and often require the help of other people.
Master stories – What we have to accept (things that have happened to us, mistakes we’ve made, the unchanging realities of our lives), and how we can live meaningfully in light of them.
Each of these three stories plays a different role in our lives, and each one holds valuable insights that can guide us, especially through darker and murkier times.
By realising how they all fit together into the tapestry of our lives, we can begin to understand ourselves better and find clarity and peace amid the chaos of life.
You can look at the Three Stories framework as a simple way to break down life’s events and choices into manageable parts, helping you understand where to focus your energy, when to let go, and how to keep moving forward.