When Were You a Leaky Bucket—And Who Was Your Gardener? How Storytelling Makes Us Stronger

There’s a beautiful, therapeutic tale called The Leaky Bucket—one of our favorite exercises from the StorySharing Toolkit. This story was brought to us by our partner Alicja Przepiórska-Ułaszewska from the Via Salutis Foundation in Poland. It’s simple, yet powerful.

The tale tells of an old, worn-out bucket, riddled with holes. Every day, the bucket tried to carry water to the garden but ended up spilling nearly as much as it managed to deliver. The bucket felt useless—ashamed of its flaws. Especially when the new, shiny bucket mocked it for not being able to do its job “properly.”

But one day, the gardener showed the old bucket something surprising: a trail of beautiful wildflowers growing along the path where the bucket had been leaking water. Without even knowing it, the leaky bucket had been nurturing beauty all along.

Of course, the full tale is richer and more detailed—but you get the idea, right?

When were you a leaky bucket? When did you feel flawed, inadequate, broken—even ashamed? And who was your gardener? Who helped you see that your cracks weren’t weaknesses, but gifts? That what made you feel “less than” was actually your quiet magic? Who helped you take pride in the parts of yourself you once tried to hide?

The first time our Icelandic team experienced The Leaky Bucket exercise was during a training in Poland. Two different organisations came together, each working with very different groups—one focused on elderly citizens, the other on individuals with immigrant backgrounds. And yet, when we gathered in that room—sitting in small circles on comfy sofas, warm drinks in hand, slices of cake on our laps—we weren’t divided by age, language, or experience. We were just human. Soft-shelled individuals, carrying our own stories and insecurities, quietly discovering how much we shared. How deeply alike we felt—despite everything that, on the surface, set us apart.

And when we started sharing, something beautiful happened—extraordinary stories began to surface. Stories you’d never guess your colleagues or collaborators had been carrying quietly in their hearts. Stories heavy with shame, yet shining like hidden treasures—because at some point, kind people had stepped in and helped shift the perspective. Those stories, once burdens, became gifts.

Some of those stories are still too private to share openly. But in that gathering, we felt safe—held by the honesty and vulnerability of others. That’s when I shared my story. My story of immigration, and the painful process of learning a completely new language.

Like many immigrants, I carried shame—shame over misusing Icelandic, over my awkward pronunciation, over how hard it was for me to remember or understand even the simplest phrases. But then, something changed. Thanks to the incredible people I met along the way—writers, translators, editors—my discomfort with the language slowly transformed. What once embarrassed me became the very thing I could write about. All the emotions I felt as a newcomer in a strange land—frustration, confusion, isolation—they became my first poem. Then a short story. Then a book. And finally, a play—written, published, and performed in Iceland. My struggle became my art. My shame became my power.

And you?

When were you a leaky bucket—and who was your gardener?

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The Story-sharing for Social Change project concluded in April 2025 and was co-founded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.

You will find the script for the Leaky Bucket exercise here. The exercise is available in 7 language version to support multilingual learners.