We’re living in the middle of chaos and life is happening ‘this’ fast – write it down. Capture those moments ~ they will create a natural arc to your life.
While moving from one address to the next, our nomadic life was full of chaos – were it not for my blog I would have forgotten half of it. After we sailed across the Atlantic and lived in Rome, then Paris, then Malta, Geneva, Venice, Amsterdam, Prague and Bucharest – I can assure you, I’d have forgotten cities, let alone stand out moments. I traveled but it wasn’t until I traveled in the mind; that’s a trip.
And, we’re surprised by moments that truly move. Occasions, even milestones meant to define our life evaporate into thin air. It’s that tiny second, an epiphany, that startling moment that alters the direction of your life ~
~ you better capture it on paper; not everyone has a photographic memory. I don’t, and it’s not improving with age…
My blog was awful in the beginning. No direction, no target audience. Still doesn’t. But it’s better. Fail better as Beckett said. I was writing about cultural realities back then, but didn’t know it. Didn’t know how to focus, too much sensory overload. But I’m focused now.
Write. Journal. Start a memoir, for your family, or just for you – the arc of your life will astonish.
In my next book; a series of interviews and essays about 12 Piemontese called, “The Personal Legends of Piemonte,” there is one woman I call The Goddess. Why? I had to cross the Atlantic in a sailboat and travel the length of a continent to find my bliss. The Goddess didn’t have to move a mile to find hers…a famous chef… more about The Goddess later.
This blessay is about you.
Write a memoir. It offers reflection and introspection. Like Joan Didion said, “you’ll want to keep on familiar terms with your former self.” Excellent advice – you may need that part of you, lost now found.
Memories fade – reclaim them, preserve them, get on nodding terms with that former self; this may prove beneficial.
Be creative, express yourself, leave a legacy – there are so many reasons to write. You’re already writing on social media, so take another extra step. Especially if you’ve been thinking about it and journal. Keep a book by your side. Scribble.
Step back, meditate on it, the more you meditate the more you get to know yourself….then slowly create an outline, eventually the definition will fill itself in….
It’s the best therapy you’ll ever engage in. You will make sense of past events, the puzzle will come together and you will heal. There is an arc to your life.
You will feel love; I promise.