Chronicles of one woman’s journey towards well-being: re-membering
| Date | 01 November 2019 |
| Published date | 01 November 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/MHSI-05-2019-0015 |
| Pages | 189-191 |
| Author | Jo Mullen |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Mental health,Social inclusion |
Chronicles of one woman’s journey
towards well-being: re-membering
Jo Mullen
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to share the experiences and reflections of one woman’s journey
toward well-being.
Design/methodology/approach –A narrative approach has been taken to structure reflections based on
lived experience.
Findings –Reflections are offered based on a personal journey toward well-being.
Originality/value –This paper adds to the accounts of the lived experience of the journey toward well-being,
and as such, contributes to the understanding of the process of rebuilding a life.
Keywords Story, Authentic voice
Paper type Viewpoint
The following allegory was gifted to me 20 years ago in 1999, the year I made my transition from
London to Findhorn, a small coastal village in the North East of Scotland. It was my first
experience of expressing something meaningful in words –this was my own story, spoken by My
Authentic Voice. At several points along the way, I felt certain that I had reached the end point. I
now realize, however, that this was, in fact, an illusion. Recent events have taught me that I was
required to work with –and through –my story on many levels, with each one bringing me back
to the beginning again. It is only in this present moment that I have finally arrived at my intended
destination, ready and fully-equipped to create a New Story.
The story
Once upon a time there was a story. It was trying to live amongst the people who told stories
freely to each other every day. But nobody wanted to tell this story. NOBODY.
The people slowly began to notice that this story had never been told. They would wonder about
it, realising that it must be very different if no-one had told it. Then one day a little girl said:
Perhaps it is something that we don’t want to hear. Perhaps it is so full of pain that it would certainly
change us if we heard it.
After she had spoken, a man standing next to the girl felt cold, and the woman next to him started
trembling, and a little boy clung to the woman as the sobs came. And this went on until all of the
people were shaking and crying and screaming. Only the girl remained silent. At last, someone
had invited pain and grief to stay awhile in the land of the storytellers.
The people turned to face the girl. Their fear became anger, and their anger hurled itself into rage.
“You must suffer for what you have done,”said a man, and he grabbed a heavy iron chain.
He dragged it toward the girl and clamped it tight around her right ankle, and the other end he
wrapped around her story.
Then the seven strongest men in all the land struggled to lift the pain-filled story and carried it to
the water’s edge. They placed it in a small wooden boat and they pushed and pushed so hard
until the fear and the grief were gone.
Jo Mullen is based at Wot R U
Like?, Elgin, UK.
DOI 10.1108/MHSI-05-2019-0015 VOL. 23 NO. 4 2019, pp. 189-191, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2042-8308
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MENTALHEALTH AND SOCIAL INCLUSION
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PAG E 18 9
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