Stories Are Clues To Inner Healing

Originally aired on Soul Deep Dig Podcast ⬅️ Listen Here
Ep 036 August 21, 2025
The following is an automated transcript from the podcast, made into blog form. Enjoy!

Years ago, when I was first learning tarot with Beatrex, she told me something that has stayed with me ever since:

“You’re only as healed as your story.”

At the time, I didn’t know what to make of it. Did it mean I had to go back and heal every painful moment in my life? Every challenge with my parents, my relationships, my childhood? It felt overwhelming, like an impossible task.

But now I see it differently. That phrase isn’t a to-do list. It’s a magnifying glass.

What Stories Reveal

The way we tell our stories — the starting point, the tone, the details we choose — shows where healing is right now.

Think about being asked, “What was it like growing up where you did?”

• One answer might be: “The sunsets were beautiful, and every weekend we had ice cream.”

• Another answer might be: “It was hard, my parents were fighting a lot.”

Both are true. But which story rises first shows what’s active in the present.

When I think back to my childhood in Michigan right now, the story that surfaces is of Lake Michigan: cold water, hot sand, barbecues, running down the dunes. Those are the memories alive in me at this stage of life. The conflicts and difficulties from that time are still part of my past — but they aren’t active in me right now.

A few weeks ago, I might have answered differently. That’s the point: stories change as healing changes.

Repeated Stories Are Clues

When the same story rises again and again, it’s worth noticing. If the story always comes from betrayal, disappointment, or hurt, it may mean there’s still wisdom waiting to be integrated from that experience.

One practice I’ve used, learned from my Quero Apache teacher Maria Yraceburu, is writing a letter to that season of life:

“Dear time of my life, thank you. Because of you, I learned…”

You write it again and again until you can truly feel gratitude. That shift signals integration. The pain no longer defines the story; the wisdom does.

Stories as Mirrors in Relationships

Listening to other people’s stories works the same way. The first details someone shares — whether it’s joy, frustration, or struggle — reveal what’s alive in them right now.

That doesn’t mean we jump in to fix or counsel. It simply means we can meet them with compassion, knowing the story is showing us where they are in the moment.

And the same is true for ourselves. Instead of judging the story we tell, we can use it as a mirror.

Stories and Themes

Trying to heal every painful story one by one can feel like too much. Instead, notice themes:

• Maybe childhood stories still rise with hurt.

• Maybe career stories feel heavy with overwhelm.

• Maybe dating stories always carry frustration.

Those repeating themes point to where healing work is most needed. When those stories shift toward wisdom, space opens for new experiences to take root.

Stories as Magnifying Glasses

Stories don’t just tell the past — they magnify the present.

They show where we’re hurting.
They show where we’ve grown.
They show when it’s time for visioning and manifestation.

When my stories of childhood surface with lightness — remembering the water, the dunes, the joy — that tells me I’m in an integrated place. It’s a sign that I’m steady enough to bring forward new visions.

Closing

Every story is a clue.
The beginning, the middle, the ending — each one shows us where healing is alive.

And when we track our stories with compassion, we move from feeling trapped in them to finding the wisdom they carry.

Because healing isn’t about erasing the past. It’s about changing the lens through which we tell it.