The value of experiences has never been lost on me. My parents both raised me to believe that your experiences build your future and fulfill your purpose, both positive and negative. Arnett, Fritz, and Bell define as a story that provides guidelines for human action, but our narratives can stem from both experiences, education, and our personal identities (pg.37). My petite narratives are built from my identity and my experience as a child and how it’s shaped me into the person I am today. 

When I was 5 years old, my parents started noticing clear differences between my younger brother and I. Where he would chime in when he could smell dinner being prepared and immediately start asking when he could eat, I just sat quietly, waiting for someone to tell me that there was food in the kitchen. My mom eventually became curious of this difference seeing as how I had never really reacted to smells before and now my brother (who is 2 years younger than me) started picking up on them right away. That year, I saw every doctor in Wilmington, NC and was eventually diagnosed with congenital anosmia, the inability to smell since birth.

This became my first narrative, defining the way I interacted with those around me. I had to learn how to take care of myself differently than most kids would. I didn’t have a baseline for smell, I barely had a baseline for taste. My parents had to adjust to teaching me basic hygiene care or cooking through a different perspective. As I got older, I learned how to thrive with my anosmia but it affected the way I interacted with my peers. I was incredibly self-aware and self-sufficient. Also being a Christian, I was able to use my religious beliefs to empathize with those in my classes. I used my narrative of being “invisibly disabled” (as a teacher so kindly referred to it) to mold how I empathized since I understood that just because someone didn’t look to be struggling, I may not be aware of their full narrative.

Although this is just a portion of my narrative, it’s affected my entire family and most people who know my story. I’ve had the opportunity to have some really interesting conversations surrounding it and it’s taught me the importance of empathy and added to my Christian narrative.

References:

Arnett, R.C., Harden-Fritz, J. M. & Bell, L. M. (2008). Communication ethics literacy: Dialogue and difference. Los Angeles: Sage.