In addition to using of Re-Storying, Re-Patterning, and Restructuring in changing people’s stories, there is another powerful resonance between a Girl and her world and the work we do at NewStories: our shared desire to cultivate community processes that guide regenerative recovery after disasters.

At NewStories, our commitment lies in the transformative power of Re-Storying—a dynamic approach that alters the lens through which we perceive our communities, challenges, and ourselves. The impactful endeavors of a Girl & her world, a non-profit organization that focuses on helping girls in rural Fiji get back to school and develop income-generating projects, stand as a living testament to the Re-Storying process in action.

Like the air we breathe, there is an invisible field of stories all around us and through us, whether or not we are conscious of it. These stories are often given to us by families, friends, and communities and are used to pass down our history, culture, beliefs, heritage, and points of view. During our formative years, such stories of tradition are how we learn and discover our place in the universe.

When I traveled to Fiji in October to host a series of workshops for Fijian women and young girls, I focused on gaining deeper clarity regarding what it means to “Re-Story” and its profound role in my life and the lives of those around me.

Story is a transformative agent with the power to reshape individuals, communities, and the world. Genuine healing and restoration require us to engage in ‘Re-story-ation’ – our relationship with ourselves and the world cannot be healed until we acknowledge and engage with the narratives that shape our lives.

Recently, I was having a conversation with good friends and one shared a recent experience she’d had with a small group of people from different parts of the world talking about the word resilience. Turns out many, many cultures have no such word – it is simply embedded in their way of being. When people from those cultures looked further for the word, the best they were able to find were words about “bouncing back.”