The Stories That Shape Us

It’s National Selfie Day—and while I’ve never been the kind of person who lived life behind a lens, today’s more than just a hashtag. It’s a chance to pause and reflect on the moments—and stories—that shaped us.

I wasn’t a big reader growing up. I was an adventurer. A doer. Mischievous to a fault. I wanted to climb things I shouldn’t, take things apart I couldn’t put back together, and chase whatever mystery lay just out of reach. While other kids were curled up with a book, I was out testing boundaries and occasionally testing my luck.

But the stories still found me.

They crept in through film, through games, through conversations whispered too late at night. And later, when life got harder and questions got bigger, I started writing—not because I wanted to escape, but because I needed to make sense of the world around me. Writing became the place where adrenaline met emotion, where danger had meaning, and where the broken things could speak.

Now, I write speculative thrillers that wrestle with technology, identity, and the human cost of ambition. But they’re all still rooted in that same childhood instinct—to explore, to push, to understand.

So today, instead of just a selfie, share a story that challenged you. A book or film or line of dialogue that sparked something real. Let’s celebrate the tales that don’t just entertain us—but shape us.

And if you’re curious where that kind of storytelling can lead… Iteration might be a good place to start.