THE MIRACLE

Last week I witnessed a miracle. After spending 45 minutes with a wheezing, gurgly-chested woman who could hardly breathe, I told a story. When the story was done, she was breathing normally.
There are a lot of people who would question whether it actually was a miracle. Followers of Milton Erickson would call my story interlude an Ericksonian technique. Breath specialists would likely point out that she was catching her breath as I was telling the story. Anxiety specialists would say that the story reduced her anxiety, thus increasing her breathing capacity. Professional storytellers would use it as evidence to support funding professional storytellers for breath-enhancement programs.
I’ve thought of dressing up the story for a professional article. I could write about the confluence of counselling and storytelling, the intersection of anxiety reduction and physical well-being. It would all look very professional indeed, until the truth slipped out. The truth is that I was trying to persuade the woman to go to the doctor and ask for a medical solution to her breathing problem which—I pointed out—was far more severe than it had been over the past few months. . She, in turn, pointed out that it would be easier for her to breathe if she didn’t have to talk so much, and she wouldn’t have to talk so much if I would talk more. Then I, not wishing to continue lecturing, told her a story that was in my mind because it had been told to me only a few days earlier and I had noted it on THE HOPE LADY Blog. It had nothing to do with her situation. There was no justification for telling it in a counselling session. It was not in any way humorous. It was not about books or reading.
Here’s the before-and-after summary. Before the story her voice was barely audible. After the story it was loud and clear. Before the story she was talking about suicide. After the story she was asking questions about our storytelling circle. Before the story she could not remember any books she had read recently. After the story she mentioned two books by title and author. Before the story she did not laugh at my carefully chosen joke. After the story she told me three jokes.
Call it whatever you like. I call it a miracle. I am just glad I was there to witness it.