Writing Your Own Story

The most common way we share our stories is through conversation. But there is something validating and meaningful about seeing your story on paper. And you don’t have to be a “writer” to write your story. All you need is a keyboard or pen and paper.

If you don’t know what to write, a technique that often produces surprisingly wonderful results is called stream-of-consciousness writing. Give yourself a fixed amount of time, say, 30 minutes to start. And begin. Whatever comes into your mind, write it down. Don’t worry about editing, flow, grammar, anything. Just let the words pour out of you and don’t stop writing. When the set amount of time is up, you can either keep writing or, if you like, you can go back to make changes.

If you don’t know how or where to start, here are a few suggestions. Pick one and you may be surprised to see where it takes you.

Part of my goal is to connect story tellers with listeners.  I’m always in search of a new story, whether humorous, painful, tender, or bittersweet.  Write to us if you have a story to share.  Contact Barb@breastfeedingcafe.com. 

Ideas to Get You Started

• When I think about breastfeeding, I feel….
• My beliefs about motherhood and women’s’ roles affects/affected my
• breastfeeding experience by…
• Some of the social and cultural messages I receive(d) about breastfeeding are(were):
• My birth experience(s) affected nursing by…
• When I compare my expectations of breastfeeding to the reality of it….
• The thing that surprised me the most was…
• Some of the obstacles I had to overcome (or wasn’t able to overcome) to breastfeed were….
• Some of the (helpful or unhelpful) advice or comments I received from health care professionals, family members, and others were…
• What helped me the most was…
• Here are some of my favorite nursing moments or most meaningful nursing experiences:
• What a kick! I never realized the entertainment value of nursing until…
• I had some (great or awful, etc) encounters with people who expressed approval or disapproval for the way I nursed my children.
• Let me tell you about my experiences of nursing in public or in front of others…
• Some of the unexpected benefits and rewards of nursing were….
• Nobody ever told me that….
• Breastfeeding affected me physically in that…
• Breastfeed has helped me to…
• Not only do(did) I nurse, but I also held down a (non-mothering) job. Here’s how I did it:
• Oh, the places I’ve nursed!
• Sex? Nursing affected my sexuality and/or my relationship with my partner by…
• When I think about providing milk to a baby other than my own, donating milk, or using donated milk, I think about…
• Breastfeeding has affected the way I mother(ed) my children by…
• Breastfeeding changed/has changed me as a woman and as a mother by...
• When I think about weaning and moving on, I feel…

And a few more writing starters…

• I never thought I’d be nursing a kid that old!
• Nobody seemed to understand
• Breastfeeding to the max
• ...and then there were the nights
• I want my body back!
• If I could do it all over again....