The power of story

Thank you, Tina Yothers.

This is a photo of the first "self-help" book I ever bought. I was 12 years old and living in Westchester - just outside of New York City - for a summer with my grandparents when I first read it. At that time, I was obsessed with sitcoms (with Family Ties at the top of my list!) and quietly wishing for a life that felt steadier than the one I was in.

I found "Being your Best: Tina Yothers' Guide for Girls" at a local library sale before I left. It was already well-loved and almost as tattered as it appears in this photo. I paid a dollar for it and carried it home like it was treasure. And in many ways, it was.

It talked about things no one else was talking to me about: emotions, bodies, divorce, boys, growing up. It answered questions I didn't know how to ask out loud. Tina shared a lot of her own story in the pages.

Her closing words (coined in the book as "Tina's Last - and Best - Words")
"Don't count yourself out.
Dreams are important.
If you have a dream, follow it."

I've lived in 16 homes in my lifetime. I've aggressively purged closets and bookshelves more times than I can count. And yet this book has stayed with me. It sits on my shelf today. It isn't available on Amazon or eBay and I've never seen another copy. But I still have mine! (Even though it's almost disintegrating at this point!)

I don't know who made the decision to create it. And I don't know if it's something the Family Ties star considers a highlight of her career.

But to me, at one point in my life, it was a lifeline.

That book was the first time I truly understood that someone I would never meet could reach into my life and change it with words.

And when I look back now, there's an invisible string tracing from that moment to this one. To the hundreds of self-help books I've read since (forever my favourite genre). To the ideas I've built my life around. To my own voice which I'm still learning to trust and use more often.

We rarely know the impact we're having - with a book, a post, a 1:1 conversation or a speech from a stage. The power of a story or an idea shared honestly.
What feels small to you might be the thing someone else is holding onto for dear life.

So this is a thank you. To Tina! And to every person who writes, publishes, records, or shares something true, based on their own lived experience. And if you've been thinking about sharing more of yourself, but have been holding back - I hope you do. Your voice might reach further than you'll ever know.

Is there a book that came into your life at exactly the right time?