"Wake Up to Your Stories is the new Artist’s Way. With simple lessons, meditations and exercises, Alyson Mead creates a warm, inviting and fun atmosphere to use your personal stories to connect with loved ones, leave something behind for future generations, or even establish a new writing practice. Alyson’s help was invaluable in the creation of my memoir. In fact, I believe she was sent from above."

-- Hilary Momberger, Author of Peanuts to Percocet: Scenes from a Hollywood Childhood

Do You Have a Story, Just Waiting to Get Out?

Our stories are as old as civilization. They accompanied us into the world, sent us off to sleep in the form of lullabies, and taught us morals when we were still forming our earliest relationships with the world.

As dependent children, we received stories—from our parents, guardians and teachers. And because of that, it’s very easy to remain in that receiving position well into adulthood. But as we grow and mature, it’s our duty to recall our stories, to give them credence and validation. Our stories are the connective tissue that reminds us to be human. Our stories provide memory and foundation. Without our stories, we are vulnerable to the wishes and designs of others, and to the lowest aspects of our own nature.

In many ancient cultures, priests or holy figures were entrusted with the tribe’s stories. Now, we are more widely diverse and scattered around the globe than ever before. We cannot count on one person, or a very small group of people, to accurately reflect us. It’s clear that we all understand, consciously or unconsciously, how important storytelling is, or it wouldn’t pay so well. But few of us are willing to take on the responsibility.

We may say, "My life is nothing like that," when we watch a movie or soap opera, but by allowing someone else to dictate our experience, we assume a kind of cultural Alzheimer’s. In the most disrespectful way, we let the stories of our ancestors slip away.

If we become passive observers in our own lives, we give up our right to complain. Just as we get a vote in every election, each of us has the right to gather together and tell our stories, in large or small ways. My new book can help you do just that.

"The universe is made of stories, not of atoms."

-- Muriel Rukeyser

We all have a story, whether we realize it or not. Our personal narratives control how we see the world, how we interpret it, and how we go about achieving our goals and desires. Stories are the way we connect with others, and the way we leave our mark.

Even if you don’t consider yourself a writer, Wake up to Your Stories: Using the Art of Personal Narrative to Heal Your Past, Nurture Your Relationships & Ask for What You're Worth can help you identify and validate the stories living inside you, so you can heal past traumas, reinforce your connections with loved ones, and begin the process of building the life you really want.

Using simple meditations and follow-up exercises, Wake Up to Your Stories can help you get in touch with the way you’re using storytelling in your daily life, perhaps without even knowing it. These personal narratives we’re always writing can help us achieve everything we desire, or stop us in our tracks, before we reach our goals.

I have worked with individual clients and small storytelling groups for 19 years, ghostwritten bestselling books, and published hundreds of articles. My work also appears in the anthology Stories of Strength, benefiting the victims of Hurricane Katrina. In my many years of experience, I've found that only in waking up to our stories can we begin to deepen our experience of being human, and claim our place as storytellers.

Wake Up to Your Stories is available at Amazon.com and retail outlets nationwide.  Please click here to be taken directly to the book's Amazon page.

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