"It's the process of writing and life that matters….We are trying to become sane along with our poems and stories."  ~Natalie Goldberg

I  was listening to a Minnesota Public Radio show a few days that featured Rachel Fleischleiser and Larry Smith, authors of Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six Word Memoirs by Authors Famous and Obscure. The book consists of submissions by people who have created a six line 'statement' that speaks volumes about who they are. I was fascinated by this concept. I had actually heard these two interviewed before but had forgotten how compelling this idea was. Six words to sum up our lives. Isn't it any interesting idea? You can learn more about the project and even enter your own six word memoir at www.smithmag.net/sixwords.

When asked where the idea came from, Smith stated that it had its inception from a story told about Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway, taking up a bar bet about whether it was possible to write a novel in six words, replied with:  For Sale: Baby Shoes, Never Worn. The imagination goes wild with a statement like that, doesn't it? It truly is a story in and of itself. And so, these two authors began collaborating by asking the famous, the infamous and the ordinary to offer their own six word memoirs.

Perhaps I was taken with this idea because I started a memoir writing class yesterday. This is something new for me and I entered it with some trepidation. I have not been in a writing class since college. Will I make a total fool of myself? Will I find new inspiration? I don't know the answers to these questions yet but I do know that I love stories, particularly life stories and will find some kind of wisdom in trying to shape a way of speaking about my own life. I do not think, however, that the task will be to condense it to six words! But it might be fun to try.

For some reason the concept gave me the idea of thinking about a six word memoir for individuals in the Bible. Take Moses for instance:'Burning bush. God speaks. Long Journey'. Or Mary: 'Angel arrives. Answer yes. Changed forever'. And John the Baptist: 'Don't look at me. He's coming'. Finally, Jesus: 'I told the truth. No regrets'. It's a great exercise,isn't it?

What might your six word memoir be? What pivotal moment defined who you are? What might your six word spiritual memoir be? What six words might illuminate your faith life to others, to yourself? The economy of language in an exercise like this can be helpful in sharpening our vision of what we value, in telling the story of who we are at our very core. It might be worth some contemplation. I offer it to you in these winter days when reflection seems to be sewn into the marrow of the day.

Weekend arriving. Wide open. Adventure ahead?