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