Benefits of Storytelling

What does it mean to “connect”? It is a big, common word that I’ve learned can seem stressful with life’s daily to-do’s. With everything that has to get done, when is there time or energy to connect?
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Enter one tip: storytelling. One of my earliest childhood memories is my mom making up vividly imaginative stories before bedtime.
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I imagine she was exhausted after a day on the floor of a full time nursing job, then coming home to cook dinner and raise the three of us entirely on her own - yet, somehow, she found a way to spend time with each of us at bedtime: rubbing our heads/backs, reading books, storytelling. Then later, letting us pick the topic and fill in some blanks, sometimes continuing the same story for many nights.
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Little did I know at the time, this wasn’t just a beautifully consistent and significant source of connection but it enabled so many other valuable things.
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Storytelling is proven to release oxytocin (the bonding “feel good” love hormone) and an energizing amount of cortisol (commonly known as a stress hormone that contributes much to arousal levels). As my girl Brene says: “These chemicals trigger the uniquely human ability to connect, empathize, and make meaning. Storytelling is literally in our DNA.”
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To telling some stories this week: to connect over a personal childhood story of being hurt when a little is hurt themselves now, to bond before bedtime, to capture attention in the morning and tell a story about what the day will look like, to make up a fantastical story together that keeps on going- the options are endless, not incredibly time intensive, and equally valuable