How I Wish I Could View My Stretch Marks...

"....over the stretch marks that were like inlaid streaks of mother-of-pearl that would never fade, whose brilliance spoke only for the body's decay."

From "Unaccustomed Earth" by Jhumpa Lahira, a book I have not read and therefore am not recommending. I just like anyone that can make stretch marks sound like a gift!

Six Word Memoirs

Gore Vidal, defines a memoir as "how one remembers one's own life, while an autobiography is history, requiring research, dates, facts double-checked." As Wikipedia goes on to state, "It is more about what can be gleaned from a section of one's life than about the outcome of the life as a whole."
About a year ago, the online "storytelling community" called Smith magazine, challenged their readers to write their life story in only six words. After receiving more than 15,000 entries, they put 832 into a new book called "Not Quite What I Was Planning. " After reading many of the entries, you just can't help trying to come up with your own. I came up with a few:

"Fully loved, able to love unconditionally."

"Country girl embraced city, then lake."

"Drama Queen meets Prince of Peace."

"True love found early lasts long."

My husband could borrow one from the book: "Would settle for a bad hair day."

I don't think anyone's life can really be summed up in six words, but like a snapshot, a six word memoir captures a part of your life, that though not fleshed out, can be revealing.

I also had a lot of fun writing six words for Biblical figures:

Paul: "I have fought the good fight."

Moses: "Knew the Lord face to face."

Solomon: "Gift of wisdom brought no peace."

Saul: "Impressive young man without equal, rejected."

Jezebel: "Killed the prophets, devoured by dogs."

Peter: "If all fall away, I won't."

Jacob: "Wrestled God and birthed a nation."

This was a good exercise and could even be a good tool for remembering biblical characters. So, admit it...you're doing one in your head as you read this, aren't you? Share yours!

like a mockingbird

"...a mockingbird spent the day in my yard singing.
He never stopped all day, shifting from birdsong to birdsong, never repeating. He had other sounds in his repertoire, some that sounded like owls or tiny foghorns. And it was impossible not to laugh listening to him shift from one song to another. "He's showing off," said my daughter, and I thought he was right to, showing how worldly he was, how far he had come, what he now knew that he wasn't born knowing."

Excerpt from "Still Life With Chickens" by Catherine Goldhammer