The Six Words of Your Life--Mini Memoirs

There is something intriguing about the six-word memoir. Created by Smith Magazine, the book, Not Quite What I Was Planning, is a riveting read. Filled with short sentences from people all over the world, the concept of compacting one’s entire life into a few words is certainly challenging and entertaining.

Short sentences that have a lot of meaning have always held a fascination for me. Maybe that is why I’ve always written poetry. Expression, for me, is best if kept short. Now this doesn’t mean I can’t ramble on. Those close to me have heard that enough, but for words on paper, succinctness is an art form often absent today.

Rambling sentences have their place in life, but often they just bog you down with useless information. Journalists, for example, are trained to cut their work. And most sentences can be downsized.

Take this sentence for example: Jacob smacked the ball across the field where the pigeons play and the dandelions grow, and it went quite far, straight up to the hill where the neighbor's dog runs, and it rolled and rolled until it was gone.

A simple downsize could read:  Jacob smacked the ball across the field before it disappeared.

Obviously, there are other options for this sentence but you get the point.

After reading all the fabulous six-word memoirs in the book, I felt compelled to do my own. What is interesting is how many ways you can look at the subject. The first thing you think of is that there is no way you can summarize your whole life in six words. Of course, that may depend on the life you’ve lived. If your passion has always been doctoring, you may come up with something like:

                               Doctor for life. No waiting necessary.

If you are a pianist who has traveled the world playing great theaters you could write:

                                  The ivories have sung it all.

A magician? Maybe your memoir could be:

                           Fantastic illusions doesn’t even cover it.

If your life is more scattered, you can pick one part of your life, or the part you are in right now. If you are a first-time mother you might write:

                                 Buried in diapers, feel no escape.

Or:

                                   His smile melts my heart daily.

Choosing a portion of your life will mean that your memoir will grow and change. What you might have written as an 18-years-old will no doubt be vastly different than your writings at 40.

My memoir after graduation could have been:

                                        Not sure where to head next.

At this stage of my life, it could read:

                                      Family is all I’ve ever needed.

The possibilities are endless. When you are forced to pick only a few words to describe your life, you discover a lot about yourself that you didn’t see coming. I sat in front of my picture window a long time before I choose the words I wanted to define my life’s journey thus far.

I kept thinking of the animals in my life. The ones I’ve wanted but haven’t gotten, the moments when an animal has entered my life unexpectedly, and the loss of ones so loved. At the time, a new dog had entered my universe, so naturally I wrote about her impact on my life. It went:

Got a dog, no rest here.

Did focusing on one part of my life mean this was my entire life? Hardly. Was it a significant portion of my life? Definitely. Would it continue to be my life? Good question.

When choosing your words, reflect on the things that are most important to you. If you close your eyes and take a deep breath, what are the first scenarios that pop into your mind? Chances are these are the moments, events, people, places or things that you value most. You can break down your ideas into categories if it’s easier.

1. What people have influenced you?
2. What actions have you taken that have had the most impact on you?
3. What projects have most intrigued you?
4. What life-changing events have most motivated you?

Sometimes the most difficult times are the ones we cling to and remember most vividly. They are usually emotionally charged, forcing us to look at life with different eyes. These times can also make for good story telling, and the six word memoir is simply that. A story told in short.

Of course you could also expand, or decrease this challenge. What about a ten word memoir:

                 Today is the first day I have remembered since college.

Or how about a three word memoir:

                                        Sadness always near.

Years ago I won a contest for a 50 word story. At the time I thought that was difficult. Now with the mini word stories there is even more to aspire to. Ernest Hemingway is alleged to have written this short story: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Naturally there are lots of ways to interpret that sentence. Did the person never have a baby? Did the baby die? Were the shoes found in an attic brand new? It’s all open to each individual’s view and take on the world, which is why the shortest of the short are so wonderful. They give us a glimpse or the whole picture.

So, now you can get started with your own thoughts, ideas and ponderings. I bet you spend way more time contemplating those six words than you do those 800 word articles.