"Story is consciousness," writes Cory Richards in his memoir "The Color of Everything." "It drives discovery and belief... Story is also the architecture of identity."
As I sit with these words, I can't help but reflect on the stories I've been telling myself for years – some empowering, others that have held me back like invisible anchors.
Think about it: How often do you catch yourself saying things like "I'm not good at writing and no one will read it anyway" or "I screw up all my relationships" or "I'll never be as successful as they are"? These aren't just passing thoughts – they're stories we've woven into the fabric of our identity, often so seamlessly that we mistake them for unchangeable truth.
These stories aren't fixed. They're not even necessarily true. They're just the narratives we've chosen – or inherited – to make sense of our experiences. The power lies in recognizing that if we can choose our stories, we can also choose to change them.
I recently caught myself in one of these narrative loops with my own work. For years, I'd dreamed of creating something meaningful around books – specifically, sharing practical life lessons from my reading that could help others create the lives they want and learn to trust their intuition. But the stories I told myself were relentless: "Why would anyone want this? Who would want to hear what I have to say? Can I really write in a way that helps people? Others already do book reviews – people can just read the books themselves."
Even when friends expressed excitement and interest and even said they'd pay for this type of content, I created a new story: they were just being nice. My narrative grew more complex with each possibility: "If it's going to be a revenue stream, it needs to be bigger, more sophisticated, it needs more" These weren't facts – they were stories I'd crafted that kept me safely in place, protected from potential failure but also blocked from potential joy.
It was a perfect example of realizing how much of my reality was shaped not by facts, but by the story I'd been telling myself about what those facts meant.
Cory writes, "The story itself isn't healing. Healing comes when we transcend the story altogether and divorce ourselves from its negative influences. Integration means dropping the story because the story no longer informs your actions." This isn't about positive thinking or denial of real challenges and true facts. It's about recognizing that our interpretation of events – our story about them – often causes more suffering than the events themselves.
So how do we begin to rewrite these stories?
First, we have to catch ourselves in the act. What stories do you repeat about yourself? What explanations have become habits?
Ask yourself: Where did this story come from? Is it really yours, or did you inherit it from family, society, or past experiences?
Consider what other interpretations might be equally or more true. What story would you tell if you were your own best friend?
The most powerful part of Corys’ message isn't just that we can change our stories – it's that in doing so, we change our lives.
And as he puts it, “ Resolution is the work of words and the mind. Acceptance is the work of silence and the heart, and the space where all healing takes place. Nothing was ever broken to begin with. Broken was just another story. I am. We all are. Unbreakable. “
What story are you ready to rewrite?
Here I am now, rewriting my story and allowing my heart to guide me as I share insights from books that have made a difference and offering lessons to help others move forward. Will it turn into a new career? Who knows. What I do know is that by taking action, I'm finally gathering real facts instead of recycling limiting stories. Even if this never becomes my primary career, it brings me joy and inspires my creativity– and that's a fact, not a story.
What dream are you holding back because of the stories you're telling yourself? What would happen if you allowed your heart to guide you as you gathered some real facts instead?
Your story is waiting to be rewritten. The pen is in your hand.
Book Recommendation & Inspiration
“The Color of Everything” by Cory Richards
I love the way Rich Roll describes this book on his podcast where he interviews the author Cory Richards. This is how he described it:
“Sex, drugs, rock and roll. And neither giant mountains nor great adventures are a match for the cravings of a hungry ghost or the insanity reaped by trauma unhealed. Because you simply cannot outrun or out climb the unquiet mind. It must be reckoned with. An acute mental health disorder isn't some cute puppy dog thing or cause, it's instead a beast that left unhealed leads to only three places: insanity, institutionalization, or death. It's also about identity and delusion and denial and death and summits and high highs and low lows and adventure and confusion and clarity.
All these stories told with profound honesty and vulnerability which gives the reader, us, permission to talk about deeper things and to grapple with what lurks in the dark as he show us a path to hope and growth and light and love and healing and wholeness “ (Link to listen to the full episode below)
I will add that he does this all while making it feel like a late-night conversation with your most insightful friend. That's what Cory Richards delivers in "The Color of Everything."
What else makes this book special
This isn't just another memoir. Cory takes us on a journey that's both external and internal, weaving together breathtaking adventures on the world's highest peaks with profound insights about what it means to be human. From the beautiful messiness to real transformation.
It’s raw honesty that hits home. Cory doesn't just tell his story – he shows us how to look at our own story with new eyes. His vulnerability about mental health, addiction, and personal struggles creates a space where we the reader can finally breathe and say, "I'm not alone in feeling this way." Even if your challenges aren’t the same as his, the insights about healing, growth, and finding your way through life’s complexities will resonate, at least they did for me.
You will see a way to turn your own struggles into stepping stones and your stories into a source of strength. He shows us that healing and growth are possible precisely because of our challenges, not despite them.
"The Color of Everything" is a deeply personal memoir that you don’t want to put down and leaves you sad (in a good way) that it is over when you reach the last page. A beautiful story of the importance of finding meaning in challenges, extraordinary adventures, and everyday moments.
Pick up your copy at your favorite bookshop.
Learn more about Cory Richards here: https://www.coryrichards.com/