Writing As An Art Form

Each year, for the past three years, I have written a portion of my life story as the gift I give my three daughters for Christmas. I often wished that my own mother had written about her daily life experiences and so, decided to do that for my girls. The first two years I wrote with the humor that often comes when remembering the craziness of childhood and the recalcitrant nature of being a teenager. Last year, I moved to a more serious topic and discussed the events leading to the end of my marriage and the years of struggle with my mother's lengthy illness.

This year, I have decided to follow the advice of the author of the book, Thinking About Memoir, by Abigail Thomas. She suggests writing for about ten minutes on one of the topics she mentions in the book. The topics are very simple; or so they seem until one begins to write. The topics have titles such as: What You Wish You Could Still Do; What Was Left Behind: Something That Happened In Water, etc. I am continually amazed at the clarity and insight I have when I just allow myself to write freely. These topics seem so simple and mundane. They offer, however, a window into the everyday events of my life that I would never have thought to write about. Years from now, when the final page of my story has been written, I hope my children will know all about me...my joys, my hopes, my fears, my disappointments, the life lessons I learned, the people I loved, and that life itself is the finest collage one can ever create.