Why Stories Matter

Stories have always been a vital way that we pass on our values to our children. 

But stories convey more than just values. They also impart our world view. “Why are we here? What is the larger context of our lives?” For our ancestors, with their evolving sense of the universe and their part in it, stories provided a primary way of initiating each new generation into the worldview that they held to be true. 

So where are we today?

The modern world has a lot of stories in it, unimaginably more than our ancestors ever had. And the messages, and the world views, are many and various. I imagine many modern parents wonder where to find stories whose messages they trust, and whose world views chime with their own. 

All the stories here on Palace of Stories (except a few traditional folktales) have come to me through a process I call “Intuitive Storytelling”. They have arisen from a place of inner wisdom inside me. We all have that place inside, although our modern culture doesn’t really encourage us to use it. Indeed, the modern world view tends to devalue inner experience and intuition.

Before the modern era, most of the stories children would hear would embed them in a universe that was teeming with mystery and magic. However, these days such stories are drowned out by many others, from television, from the internet, many of which are not even “stories” as we might think of them, but are nonetheless being absorbed by young children as they instinctively look to orient themselves within the culture they have been born into, and to answer the big questions of what this is all about. 

When my kids were young (from 0 – 9 years old) my wife and I were very protective of them. At this tender age we did not want them to have access to television and the internet. We felt it was healthier for them to dwell in the “mythic realms” for as long as possible. So they heard lots of those stories from the past. And every night, I told them a new bedtime story.

When my son was born, in 2005, I had already been telling intuitive stories for many years, and from my own experience of them, I knew that these stories conveyed messages, and a word view, that I trusted. 

What kind of messages? Here’s a summary of some of the main ideas these stories impart: 

• You are loved, just as you are. You live in a universe of love in which unseen help is always at hand.
  
• You have boundless potential and your potential is a gift to the world. Once you find it, your greatest satisfaction will be in sharing it with others.
• Your deepest dreams are a magic doorway. Stay true to them and you will find what you are looking for.
  
• Your tears are important. Don’t push down your difficult emotions. Allow them to flow, and you will gain inner strength and courage.
  
• There is nothing more satisfying than kindness and love. Caring for others feels good. Contributing to others will make your life meaningful.
  
• You are part of the great web of life. You are connected to every other person and every other being in this world. Everyone matters. We all belong to each other.
  
• We live in a loving and wonder-filled universe, and everyone has a part to play here. We are here to learn and to love, and the universe will help us with both of these things. 

I have been a spiritual seeker since my teens and a committed meditator since 2008. I don’t belong to any religion or spiritual group, but I passionately believe that humanity needs to anchor itself in wisdom, rediscover awe and wonder, and reawaken our intimate connection with one another, with nature, and with the Divine. The more challenging the crises we face, the more will we need such qualities. It’s likely our children will need them even more than we do now. 

Palace of Stories is my lifetime labour of love. I will keep telling stories for children until the day I die. This is the work I was born to do – to allow the inner well of wisdom in me to overflow in story-form. 

If this approach to creating stories for children inspires you, maybe my training, Telling Intuitive Stories to Children, would be of interest. 

You can Buy the Palace (which allows you to download the audio files and keep them forever). And on my Stories of the Journey Home blog I share my latest stories for children, as well as intuitive stories I’ve told for adults, about the spiritual journey. You can sign up here. 

 I hope you will find many stories here that will nourish you and your children!

 Leo Sofer.

More on the background to these stories here. 

My daughter and I have become enchanted by your stories. The sound of your voice, the tempo of the words, the use of music and other sounds, thoroughly transports us both into another realm. It is almost like magic! And it has also helped my own storytelling skills. You have a wonderful style – I can sense my daughter become drawn in and focused as soon as she hears your voice.
Thank you, Leo!

Melissa and Grace Rushbrook
Gold Coast, Australia