I was at the airport waiting last week. Drinking coffee and waiting. Listening to music and waiting. People watching and waiting. And amid all the waiting, I was amazed that this many perfectly unique folks exist in this small piece of the world. So many sacred stories of love and heartbreak, of adventure and monotony, and of suffering and triumph are held in the depths of the hundreds of people I see.

Some wear pieces of their stories on their faces with lines of wisdom or anger. Some exhibit pieces of their stories in their posture or tone of voice. And some keep hidden, not allowing others into any piece of their story. Every individual has a storied life, an unpoetic adventure he or she has embarked upon and made it through.

And those stories matter.

What if you believed your possibly unpoetic adventure deeply mattered? How would it impact the way you treat yourself and live your life? What opportunities would you grab hold of and what thoughts or feelings would you release? What burdens would you lay down and what freedom might you find?

I want to invite you to be encouraged and invested in as you walk the often unpoetic life. It is easy to believe that your story is too much or not enough, and therefore you are too much or not enough. This is never the case. Your story matters because you matter.

One of the parts of my work that I love most is hearing people’s stories. It is both an honor and responsibility to sit with folks, like you, while you share your fears and hopes, hurts and failures. I am not owed this opportunity and I do not take this gifted responsibility lightly because to you, it is your life, it is your everything. And it is a privilege, never a burden, to share in the unpoetic.

Written by Lindsay Williams, MA, LPC.