Urban legend holds that, to win a $10 bet, Ernest Hemingway once wrote a six-word story: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." This sparked online magazine Smith to challenge their readers to write their own six-word autobiography. The magazine received thousands of responses, many of which are collected in the book Not Quite What I Was Planning. Some are funny, some are sad, some make no sense at all to anyone but the person who wrote it, but they inspired me to think about my own life and how I would represent 32 years so briefly.
What has my life meant up until now? What has been the theme? What do I represent?
Approaching it from every conceivable angle, I set out to write my six-word memoir. Should it be about my childhood and my family? Should it be about my emotional growth and my journey to find myself? Or should it be about my life as I see it now?
In the end, I decided that my life has been a continuous journey of discovery, challenge, adventure and love. I've spent a good portion of my life discovering who I am. I've faced adversity, I've risen, I've fallen, I've loved and I most definitely have lost. Expressing all of that in just six words seemed impossible at first, but then I gave it a shot. And I wrote a few. :-)
I'm who? Switched paths. Right road.
Leaped, fell, bruised. Fell again, love.
Laugh lines are my greatest achievement.
Climbing mountains. Sometimes with bad shoes.
Bending but never breaking. Strong roots.
What would your six-word autobiography be?
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2 comments:
Wow, you got me thinking ... six-words to put it all in perspective. Yours are amazing and made me thankful I've had a chance to be on a small part of your journey with you.
Not perfect, but learning each day.
Was Lost. Found myself. Found you.
:)
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