Why telling your story matters

Growing up in a small town in Bavaria, Germany, born to a father who immigrated from Croatia during his studies, I feel like I had an early-on identity crisis as a kid.

I was not feeling like I was fitting in with my environment and on top of that, my parents often repeated a simple mantra that I engrained as well:

"What would the neighbors think?"

-little 1 year old me, being held up by my father's hands

Years later I would go to study industrial design in another town, where I was exposed to a variety of characters, all weird in their own way. I felt more at home with this diverse group of people than I ever was back home. As a result of that, I was finally able to open up more to others and explore my voice through creativity.

In December 2012, my father died. I wasn't able to process it. I went back into my shell and drowned in self pity. How could I share my feelings openly if I was taught my whole life to keep a clean facade in front of „the neighbors”?

It took me many years to work up the courage to talk to some good friends about what happened and how I felt. Then, they shared some of their hardships in life and how they overcame it. I've experienced first hand the power of sharing stories and didn't care as much about "the neighbors" anymore.

Because my friends opened up to me I gained so much clarity and courage to open up myself.

I am writing this to let you know that the positive you can do for others by sharing your story outweighs any negative judgement that you might anticipate.

What's your story?