Autobiography

Just a little update on my autobiography assignment: After blogging, journaling, thinking, musing, and even (I confess) a little crying, I came up with my "story". I have to say, it was really hard work, and I had to dig really deep. I was surprised to find how difficult it was to write a story about myself from someone else's point of view that was good, affirming & positive.

Without really realizing it, I borrowed from John Steinbeck's style of writing. Every now & then, he will interrupt his story with a 1-2 page chapter that kind of pans back from his characters and speaks about life or truth or courage. Although those chapters may not directly mention his characters, they are about the story they are telling, and are the voice of the narrator telling his audience of some deeper meaning of life. The story that I wrote was not about the details of my life, but about the inner story that was being told along the way.

I read it on Wednesday (with a slightly shaky voice-- it was so personal!), and got some really encouraging feedback. It was wonderful hearing everyone else's stories, too. What a beautiful assignment, and how healthy & even therapeutic it is to write about your own life. I think you should give it a try. Go ahead-- right now, think about what you would write...


ps. If you would like to read it, let me know & I will email it to you-- it's a little long for a blog!

pps. My next task (which was self-appointed) is to write the story of my life-- or what my life would have been-- if I had never known God. I have always been a little envious of those people who had amazing stories of life changing conversion. I realized, though, that I still have a story like that-- God just rescued me from it before it happened. I think it will cause a lot of gratitude to grow inside.