Today we’d like to introduce you to Cameron Storey.
Hi Cameron, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I am an educator and a writer who believes in the power of words and relationships to create change.
Our words hold weight; they carry meaning; they serve as vessels of change. They give us the opportunity to create relationships, to build, and to empower. Writing is one of the most powerful tools we possess. As an educator, I want those in my community to understand the power and gravity of words. Words we create. Words that endure. Words responsible for the type of sustainable transformation we need. Words we will use to magnify our experiences instead of being forced to silence our truth.
I am continually growing in understanding the power of sharing stories. What this understanding has taught me is that relationships are the heartbeat of everything we do. My experience in hearing the stories of others has given me a critical lens through which to view the world. I have been welcomed in and given an opportunity to hear tales of suffering, tales of triumph, and bear witness to the healing power created in communal spaces through story.
Relationships anchor the community. My community, formed through education and writing, believes in the power of shared experience and sharing stories. We strive to cultivate impact through understanding, presence, and action.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I am a writer, and I seek to be a bridge builder. My voice and my words hold power that cannot be replicated. That power is born of my unique experience. This is an understanding learned in my community. Our voices, and the meaning we make with our words, are intended to manifest change.
I believe that sustainable transformation is created when we take a hard look at ourselves and our society and engage in the healing process.
In this way, I seek to be a bridge builder. I seek to help others, and myself navigate the painful landscape of the past and present while dreaming of what is possible for the future. We do this with hope, we do this with love, we do this through the power of the written word.
Through my words, I am able to capture the beautiful intersectionality of the world around me. I write to showcase the triumphs of overcoming adversity in education and in life. I write to expose the truth, to capture authenticity, to wrestle with all that surrounds me, and still find hope. Because that is what it means to heal. To me, writing is an act of healing.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I believe writing is liberatory. Writing to heal has become a liberatory practice in my own life, and one I hope to share with the world. Working with others to help them discover pieces of their identity, and recognize the power that lies within, is transformative in its own right. However, watching those same people take off the masks the world has forced them to wear, and embrace their identity remains transformative.
We are all able to do this through discovering more of our own identities, dismantling any false narratives built against us, and rewriting these narratives so that they represent truth. We as a writing community choose to engage, to wrestle and fight, but most importantly to recognize what it means to heal. We seek to teach that knowledge to our peers, families, and communities. This powerful process unleashes the strength of many voices and exposes a raw picture of the reality faced to those who might be tempted to ignore it. Writing with the intention of healing models authenticity and reminds the world of its shared humanity.
As I continue to grow in writing and education, I hope to delve further into what it means to use writing as an avenue for healing. I hope to hold a steadfast presence in my community as we continue to wrestle with the monsters in our lives and to help discover new strengths within ourselves.
I strive to hold space for others through writing. One that holds a critical lens to the challenges in our world and uses words to create sustainable transformation. I hope to keep building bridges. Bridges linking the stories that go unheard, in education and elsewhere, to greater society. Through my teaching and writing, I strive to build a bridge that enables us all to see the beauty in who we are and to be one piece of the bridge that empowers us to find the freedom to invite others in as well.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
I continue to find joy in my family, friends, and exploring and enjoying the world around me.
Image Credits
Hannah Coleman Photography: https://www.hannahcolemanphotography.com/
