Notes On…Stories Shaping the World

Years ago, I stumbled upon an interview with Marie Howe, and from that moment, her words became a part of me. Her poetry has this quiet way of cutting through the noise, of revealing something raw and real about what it means to be human. I was lucky enough to have a brief encounter with her while volunteering at the Zen Center of Contemplative Care in New York City. That moment—fleeting yet profound—felt like a poem in itself, a quiet confirmation that some people’s words don’t just stay on the page; they live in you.

One of Howe’s most striking lines comes from her poem The Gate: “The world is made of stories, not of atoms.” It’s a bold statement, but one that rings true the more you sit with it. Atoms may make up the physical world, but stories give it meaning. They shape how we see ourselves, how we connect with others, how we understand love, loss, and the messy in-between.

In What the Living Do, she writes, “There are stories we tell ourselves to live, and there are stories that others tell us in order to make us live.” This is where storytelling gets complicated. Some narratives help us survive—giving structure to pain, turning loss into something we can carry. Others, however, are placed upon us by society, by family, by expectations we never agreed to. These stories tell us who we should be, what we are worth, what is or isn’t possible.

But here’s the truth: we can rewrite them. We can choose which narratives to hold close and which ones to let go.

So ask yourself: What story am I living? Is it one that empowers me? Or is it time to turn the page?