Q&A with Carrie Jarosinski

 

 

 

Carrie Jarosinski is the author of the new book Reclaim Your Story: Renew Your Health and Wellness through the Power of Storytelling. A registered nurse, wellness coach, educator, and inspirational speaker, she lives in Wisconsin.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Reclaim Your Story?

 

A: After having a conversation about wellness with my young adult son, he shared with me that he wished high school students would learn about holistic well-being so that they could transition to adulthood understanding what wellness truly looked like in action.

 

That got me thinking, if holistic well-being isn’t being taught how do kids and in turn adults know what that really is? Most folks think health and wellness is about diet and exercise. “If I could only work out more, I would be so much healthier” or “if I could just clean up my diet, I would be well.”

 

Those are two components of wellness, but to be successful we need to take a much closer look at many other considerations before we can jump to goals that surround these two topics. That is where this book comes into play - setting the stage for sustainable behavior change, not just intermittent behavior changes jumping from one “ideal” form of ourselves to the next.

 

Q: What impact can storytelling have on people’s well-being?

 

A: Not only do we hear others’ stories about health and wellness in our news feeds and on social media, but we also have our own story that we tell ourselves most often unwittingly. While we are inundated with information by these external sources, most often with conflicting and confusing messages, they seep into our own internal perceptions, values and beliefs about ourselves.

 

If we can reboot that messaging from within and build a foundation of trusting our body and our mind, we can harness the positive power of internal storytelling to launch and sustain behavior change.

 

Checking in with the internal story of what you are telling yourself, catching that in action, and intentionally shifting your story to one of strength and positivity is that first step in the journey. This internal story telling shift is the keystone of embracing the path toward a state of well-being.

 

Q: Do you think the art of storytelling has changed over the centuries?

 

A: The modalities have changed throughout the ages, but the basic premise remains the same. We tell stories so that others may learn or be entertained, or both. Through storytelling we impart wisdom from one generation to the next, or we use it as a form of escapism. We went from drawing pictures on walls and listening to fables from our elders to reading blogs and listening to podcasts, but they still root back to the same intentions. 

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?

 

A: That wellness will never be a destination. It is a path that is charted out by and unique to the individual, step by step. Sometimes we walk in circles and sometimes we even walk backward in our journey, but each step offers us new knowledge and the opportunity for growth if we are open to learning. In my book I discuss the power of the story you tell yourself throughout that journey and how it can either help or hinder your successes.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Next up is a book on resiliency. We all need to learn how to bounce back better so that we can continue our journey, take on life’s future inevitable challenges with greater ease, and find more joy. Sometimes we get stuck. Life is tough, busy, chaotic, insert adjective here, but we all have the choice to react negatively or to respond positively to those adjectives.

 

What many don’t know is that resiliency is actually a skill that can be developed through intentional practice. Yes, some have an innate ability just as some are born with a knack for playing sports or creating artwork; however, with intentionality we can grow this skill set to become a better iteration of ourselves. In a time when life feels extra “adjective-ish” I think we can all stand to grow this skill.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I have learned that the biggest mistake in any journey is to ignore mental health, and the second is to label it as mental health. Mental health has a very Western medical connotation to it. The term mental health immediately has one thinking of a state of illness or a perceived lack of health in this area,

 

I prefer to reframe that to use the terminology emotional wellness because it takes a strengths-based approach. Analyzing and applying this concept as a resource surplus as opposed to a deficit can further support sustainable behavior change in any dimension of wellness. We can learn to recognize this as a resource surplus though the power of our internal storytelling.

 

You can find me on Amazon or on LinkedIn under my name, Carrie Jarosinski, or you can connect with me via my business, Bold Contentment, on Facebook, Instagram, or go straight to my website at www.boldcontentment.com.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb