Now's the Time to Write Your Story

It’s summertime and most of us OLLI members aren’t taking classes or doing heavy studying at the moment. If you’re looking for something constructive and worthwhile to do in this “off” season, consider beginning to write your autobiography. I don’t mean to write something for publication or wide distribution, but rather to write something for yourself, and, if you have children and grandchildren, for them, as well.

Now is a wonderful time for us to look back and reflect on all the things that led us to this latter stage of being who we are. Things like our families of origin, our educational experiences, our careers, where we grew up, travel experiences, as well as the more painful aspects of our lives such as the losses of those we love and the inevitable weight of regrets.

An autobiography, however humble, provides a document for family and friends to reflect on and better understand who you are and what went into making you, you. While a family history can be done simply as a diagrammatic tree, which is certainly informative, detailed explorations of the people and events that gave you shape provide precious depth and wholeness.

As the writer of your own story, you are in charge of what to include . . . and what to leave out. No one’s life is free of disappointments, setbacks or embarrassing moments, but maintaining a positive perspective rather than emphasizing the disappointments is probably the healthier way to approach the writing. For both you and your readers.

What can happen as we grow older is that we begin to repress or forget some of the experiences that we lived through, so tackling this project is important to do before one gets too old to remember or even care.

For those of you with some free time and an inclination to write and document things, this might be a nice project over the next couple of months until classes re-start.

Good luck, and safe travels this summer, both intellectually and physically!