Own Your Story Change Your Life

this time

10 years ago i was writing a story

that would change my life

hello my name is karen mcdermott and i

am an author and publisher

and one of the things that i have come

to appreciate is that when the call

to write your story comes you can’t

ignore it

it’s like an epiphany moment and for me

it was exactly that

let me set the scene and share my story

with you

in 2010 i was a proud mum of four

children

i was sitting in the in my living room

in my waikiki western australia home

and i was we were just sitting there and

daytime tv was on

never on never on in our home but

this day it needed to be there i needed

to hear the message that was going to

come through that

actress whoopi goldberg was there

presenting the view

and she had a celebrity tv couple who

were visitors on the show

and she was asking them some questions

and

it came up around how they had endured a

miscarriage

and the woman was so evidently emotional

and i really connected because

a few years later or a few years

previous i had endured a miscarriage

a double miscarriage and the grief was

still

inside me i still felt it deeply but i

never

understood why i never understood why

this would happen to me because i

already had two healthy boys why would i

endure a double miscarriage well i was

about to find out why

whoopi goldberg turned her back to the

camera and she spoke to this woman and

she said

i am going to tell you something that i

tell all of my friends

that endure this this was a visitor that

came to tell you to get back onto the

right track in life

because when you do your gift will come

well it was like a lightning bolt shot

through my body

and i felt goosebumps from my head to my

toes

that was the answer right there that was

the answer my heart needed

no medical person could give me that

answer

only in this moment i was ready to hear

it

i was writing for a website at the time

called building beautiful bonds and

i felt compelled to share this message

with the world so i wrote a blog

but that was not enough i had to then

so how am i going to share this message

with the world

i was a mom at home with four kids

you know my world was small until it

came to

realizing that national novel writing

month

was starting in two days time

and i was just drawn to it and i

couldn’t stop thinking about it

and i said to my husband i have to write

this novel i have to get this this

message out through a book

so i may be distracted for the next 30

days

and i did for 30 days i wrote 1667 words

a day

and at the end i had them the message

out

in a book i

felt as if i had shared yes it was a bit

exposing

yes i was a bit vulnerable in sharing

the message but when that message

started to reach the people who needed

to hear it

and when that message reached their

hearts and give them the answers that

their hearts needed for

needed it changed them

but not only did writing my book and

sharing it with the world

changed them it changed me because

i was able to heal i was able to move

through

the pain that had been stuck within me i

was able to release that

move on and have my answer that i

understood why

why it was me so

the call i obviously fell in love with

story then because i seen the power in

it

the power of story is almighty whenever

a story connects

with readers whenever a story connects

with the person who’s sharing it whether

it be through a book whether it be on a

stage whether it be just in a

conversation

something magical happens it’s an

opportunity to heal to connect to

inspire to grow

one of the things that i really realized

was the narrative of which i was

sharing my stories with the world i was

showing up

and sharing some of my most intimate

stories

in a positive light filled with hope and

inspiration

and creating the conversations that

needed to happen

through story and it was amazing the

results that i was getting so

i continued to show up and through that

narrative of the stories i was sharing

with other people

i also identified the narrative of which

i was telling myself

my own stories and so i started to have

positive

more positive conversations with myself

and with others

and my life changed and i wanted

everyone to know this message as well

that if you

just change the dialogue of what you the

conversations you’re having with people

and just be more mindful

about what that can be and how that can

change

it will change your life a few months

after my mother

visited um after i wrote the book my

mother visited from um ireland

which was wonderful but she never really

understood why i left ireland and moved

to the other side of the world

like i didn’t move down the road i moved

to the other side of the world

but i had a story i wrote down that i

shared with her

and that gifted her the understanding

of why the why i l why i did leave why i

pursued going to the other side of the

world

and it helped us to rebuild our our

relationship

so in sharing that knowledge with her

and sharing that

that story that i might have just not

even thought about sharing

at any other point i actually rebuilt

and reconnected with my mother

now what is more important than that

so connection connection comes through

sharing your story

it truly does so i want you to think

about

is there a time in your life where you

or even right now

can you share something that’s within

you that’s stuck within you can you

rebuild a connection with someone

can you share a story that might inspire

somebody else

can you what is that for you

now i’m very blessed that i am able to

live

my perfect life and through my calling

to write

i fell into publishing and now i have

stories be told all over the world it’s

my

it’s my calling it’s what wakes me up in

the morning it’s what

gives me fire in my belly because i see

the power

of sharing stories has on the world

some people say that money makes the

world go wrong i think that stories make

the world go round

so i always say when you achieve

something

share it with people so many stories go

untold

so many stories have to wait till

they’re written in history books

but i say share them with the world now

because the world needs your stories now

we need to be having conversations now

we need to be connecting now

so i can i share my stories all the time

i inspire people through my

entrepreneurial journey

i i talk about how i started out

by just fifty dollars a week is what i

could afford it was just a little bit

outside of my comfort zone

i set that intention and i said i’m i’m

gonna work hard to see where this goes

and i have grown a publishing empire

i hire castles in ireland and bring

writers to it from all over the world

i have signed the duchess of york

the key at forsyth founded beautiful

illustrators and i have

beautiful books get out into the world

that’s my calling

i’m also blessed to be able to not have

to compromise any of my values

because i’m very much at home present

mom as well so my story

has led me to where i am today and i own

it with every inch of my being because

my story does not fit somebody else

it only fits me just like your story can

only fit you

so i ask you to think about do you feel

that you belong in your story

is yours story fitting you right now and

if not

what can you do to have that along

because

warts and all they are all part of us

they help us become who we are right now

and when we embrace it we have this

inner sense of belonging

a beautiful confidence that radiates out

into the world

and we help people see the good in

themselves

so let’s show up let’s share the best of

ourselves with the world

and let’s own our story because it will

change your life

and the life of other people thank you

so much