Topical Autobiographies

I overheard a woman at the dentist talking about how she was going to write a “historical autobiography” and I thought she probably didn’t understand the meaning of at least one of those words.

I want to write my autobiography, the story of my life, and I think I should probably do it before my story is over. But sitting down to write it all straight from the beginning doesn’t appeal to me and doesn’t strike me as particularly interesting to read like that either. And I’d probably forget a lot of things too.

In November 2011 I spent each day in November, and the first three days of December, writing down one memory from each year of my life. That was a fun way to start writing my story. I’m going to start something a little different now though.

I recently realized that when I introduce myself, the story I tell is largely influenced by who I’m talking to. If it’s a book club I tell the story of me as a reader. If it’s a running group I tell the story of me as a runner. If it’s an infertility group I tell that story. All of the stories are parts of me and if someone were to hear all of them they’d have the whole picture.

So I’m going to start semi-regularly writing my autobiography by topic. I’m excited to see where this project goes. Feel free to suggest any topics you’d like to hear my story on.