A to Z Theme 2016

For my 2016 A to Z theme I used a meme that I ran across on the blog of Bridget Straub who first saw it on the blog of Paula Acton. This meme is a natural for me to use on my memoir blog. It's an A to Z concept and it's about me. No research and nothing complicated. I'm given twenty six questions or topics to discuss that are about me.

In April I kept my posts short and uncomplicated. In the midst of it all you might learn a few things about me that you didn't previously know.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

X (Elements of Memoir) #AtoZChallenge


         The memoir story within you can be like a buried treasure.  The riches are there for you to dig up, but first you have to find them.   You have the treasure map in your mind and X marks the spot where you need to start excavating.   Gather your tools and dig in.

          If only it were so easy.   Sometimes that map is old and faded.  You might even need to piece it back together.  The past can be like a complex mystery that you have to solve before you can write down that story treasure.

           Perhaps if you're lucky you can assemble your crew of treasure hunters from friends and family members.   Your "maps" might include diaries, journals, and assorted reference books.   It's rarely a good idea to just wander without having any idea where to look.  The closer to X that you can begin, the easier your treasure hunt will be.

         Using the life-as-a-journey analogy, we can look back to remember the buried treasures along the route we've traveled.  When it's time to dig those treasures back up to tell the memoir story,  we need to remember where we've marked each "X" on the map of our mind and start excavating for the riches of our memories.   We aren't the pirates of the past, but the adventurer treasure seekers.

          How do you have treasured memories "marked" so you'll remember them?    What "maps" do you use to find the buried treasures of past memories?   How has the journey analogy applied to your own life?

       

9 comments:

  1. Hi Lee - I feel you've covered so many elements in your Memoir blog - they'll be a really useful reference to come back to. I have a family tree going back to the 1600s done in the 70s by my father's brother ... and I have a vague interesting history of my mother's family and some details re her first husband's Russian family ... so I could weave a story similar to my blog posts - but I'd write a book for this ... cheers Hilary

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  2. Fortunately I have journals that date back to 1/1/77, when I was in the 7th grade and they go to about 2009 when I stopped writing b/c it was a wicked bad year. Plus I've been taking pictures since I got my first instamatic camera in 8th grade, Christmas of 77 and I've always been one of 'those people' who promptly got the pics into photo albums and labeled with dates and names.

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    1. JoJo, I envy you for that. I do have pictures scattered here and there, but I was never much of a picture taker. I wish I had been. Oh, and those journals! What a treasure those are.

      Lee

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  3. I have journals going back to about 1975 and up to yesterday. There are gaps of a few years here and there, where I, for whatever reason, didn't write much...at least not much in my journals. The interesting thing to me is that a lot of the events I recorded in my journal I had completely forgotten about until I reread them! Even those things that I thought at the time, "I will never forget this!", got forgotten! I am so glad that I've kept these journals..although I have never been as organized as JoJo for keeping pictures and the like in order..well done!
    Keeping a journal has been a fantastic way to remember relatively recent family history. I've had the idea of compiling a book, (memoir?) for family members for a while now but I've yet to start on it in any real way.I'll need to embark on a very long and drawn out 'treasure hunt' and I guess I just find it a little daunting.
    Hope things are well with you and your family Lee. All the best :)

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    1. Eva, your journals are enviable to me as well. I wish I had been so diligent. I do have some dream journal entries from the late 60's to early 70's and that's kind of cool. Funny how big memories can turn into lost forgotten memories.

      Lee

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  4. I keep a diary, but I do not write in it very often anymore. The past few years, I have written or typed on whatever was most easily accessible to me. So, I have a lot of scattered notes and journaling on my phone, my old and current computers, prayer journals, and notebooks that were intended for other purposes. If I do begin that treasure hunt, it's going to take a while. I do have a memory box of items I've been keeping since junior high and a lot of pictures that will help piece things together.

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    1. I'm somewhat like that, Elizabeth. I have a lot of stuff scattered and unorganized. Maybe someday I'll gather my treasures and get them in order.

      Lee

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  5. It can be a real treasure hunt Arlee to get those memories located and excavated! Not having written records for some of the most eventful periods of my life, and having a bad memory really makes it difficult to write what I want to.
    I have enjoyed your series on writing memoir. You have been covering a good range of topics and brought up some interesting ideas to work on.

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Arlee Bird