This is so fun: “Where are you from?”

 

Today I’m delighted to share with you one of my most favorite writing projects ever.

 

I have a hunch you’ll love it, too. It’s called Where I’m From.

 

Based on a piece by George Ella Lyon, you can take a jaunt—a pleasant meander, a treasure hunt—that leads you to “the sources of your unique you-ness that you’d never considered before,” according to her old website.

 

George Ella Lyon’s Where I’m From begins this way:

 

‘I am from clothespins,

From Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride.

I am from the dirt under the back porch.

(Black, glistening,

it tasted like beets.)

I am from the forsythia bush

the Dutch elm

whose long-gone limbs I remember

as if they were my own. . . .”

 

(Click here to read more of her piece and how she got started with this adventure.)

 

Here is an excerpt from the “Where I’m From” essay Ann Kroeker wrote:

 

“I am from the persimmon tree, ripe fruit dropping, splitting, squishing soft into the grassy lawn below. I am from sweet-spring lilac and lily-of-the-valley. . . . I am from soybean and corn fields, hay and straw, and Black Angus cattle. . . .” (Click here to read more of Ann’s essay.)

 

My own attempt to write of where I’m from has been great fun. And it’s many pages long!

 

Where are you from?

 

Your own Where I’m From essay

is valuable material for your memoir.

It adds details and richness and pizzazz

and personality to your stories.

 

Lyon’s template (which I can no longer find online) suggests you write something like the following:

 

I am from ______ (specific, ordinary item), from _____ (product name) and _____.

 

I am from the _____ (home description . . . adjective, adjective, sensory detail).

 

I am from the _____ (plant, flower, natural item).

 

I am from _____ (family tradition) and _____ (family trait), from _____ (name of family member).

 

I am from _____ (something you were told as a child).

 

I am from the ________________ (description of family tendency) and ____________ (another one).

 

I am from _____ (representation of religion, or lack of it). Further description.

 

I’m from ___________ (place of birth and family ancestry), and ___________ (two food items representing your family).

 

From the ___________ (specific family story about a specific person and detail), the ______________ (another detail), and the ______________ (another detail about another family member).

 

I am from _____________ (location of family pictures, mementos, archives and several more lines indicating their worth).

 

Lyon’s template is a good place to start—but think of it as a jumping-off spot. Feel free to soar way beyond it. Branch out in new directions.

 

For example, consider including:

 

song lyrics, poems, Bible verses,

sounds, sights, smells, tastes, textures,

popular hobbies and pastimes,

hairstyles, shoe styles, and fashion trends.

 

What information, even everyday stuff, might your kids, grandkids, and great-grands never guess about you?

 

A word of caution:

Writing “Where I’m From”

can be addictive.

Keep a pen and paper on your nightstand.

 

What fun December details might your readers not know about you?

What fun December details might your readers (kids, grandkids, great-grands, friends, colleagues) not know about you? 

Here’s a fun way to mine those gems: Do you remember our “Where Are You From?” exercise? It’s a deliciously fun writing project—but it’s much more than that!

Based on a poem by George Ella Lyon, your “Where I’m From” sheds light on “the sources of your unique you-ness that you’d never considered before,” according to the website.

And you must know what that means: Your “Where I’m From” is valuable memoir material. It can add richness and pizzazz and personality to your stories.  

Lyon’s online template suggests you write “Where I’m From” something like this:

“I am from _____ (specific ordinary item), from ______ (product name) and _______.

“I am from the ______ (home description … adjective, adjective, sensory detail).

“I am from the ______ (plant, flower, natural item.…)

“I am from _______ (family tradition) and ________ (family trait), from _______ (name of family member) .…

“From __________ (something you were told as a child).…”

.… and so on. (Read more at this link.)

For example, Lyon’s poem begins this way:

“I am from clothespins, from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride.

I am from the dirt under the back porch.…

I am from the forsythia bush

the Dutch elm.…”

I propose you make a unique “Where I’m From” specifically for your December stories—maybe as an introduction or a prologue.

Use Lyon’s template as a jumping-off spot, but feel free to soar way beyond it: Branch out in new directions.

List such December things as:

• song lyrics,
• weather,
• tastes,
• smells,
• sights,
• sounds,
• textures,
• traditions.

Add activities: Did you go ice skating? Make gingerbread houses? Go to The Nutcracker?

Did your parents or grandparents read you a special story every Christmas?

Did mistletoe play an important role in your December stories?

Here’s a fun idea: Include holiday fashion trends from various eras in your life.

Consider writing several December lists: one for early childhood, one for your teen years, one for young adulthood, and so on.

My “Where I’m From” December stories capture deep-freeze winters in eastern Washington State, Christmas Eve ferry rides in western Washington, and one Christmas in Washington, DC.

They include Salvation Army bells and fireplace smoke in crisp night air. And hot chocolate with candy cane stir sticks. Gag gifts and laughter. Bayberry candles. Cordial cherries and newborn babies. And Christmas carols, lots of Christmas carols.

My nine Christmases on the equator, however, were much different: Three of those Christmases included temperatures of 104 degrees, hot winds, wildfires, and ashes heavy in the air. Melting Jello salad carried to Christmas dinner at the home of relative strangers. Being “home for Christmas, if only in my dreams.”

My Christmas list does not include lefse, lutfisk, or herring, but for some people, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without them. How about you?

Some of my friends and relatives celebrate Hanukah rather than Christmas. Maybe you do, too. If so, what flavors, songs, traditions, and stories will be on your “Where I’m From” list?

Give this some thought: What kinds of December details might your readers (kids, grandkids, great-grands) never guess about you? 

This is a busy time of year so maybe you can simply make a list of snippets to remind yourself later.

Then, when the time is right, create your own “Where I’m From” specifically for your December stories, and have loads of fun! 

(Warning: This can be addicting!)

That place: Why does it still call to you?

Remember last Thursday’s post? Hiraeth: You’ve probably experienced it.

This William Zinsser quote fits well with it:

Hiraeth is sort of like homesickness, but the English language has no word to precisely describe it.

Hiraeth has to do with a strong attachment to a home-like place and a hankering to return to it. The University of Wales says hiraeth can include “a mix of longing, yearning, nostalgia, wistfulness.…”

It pertains to a place (literal or figurative) that mysteriously shaped you and now defines you and still anchors you and lives in you.

A place (literal or figurative) that nurtured your soul and spirit.

A place that still calls you by name and woos you.

Pay special attention to the way you describe that place in your memoir.

Why?

Because the better the description, the better your readers will experience—will get to know—the power of your place and enter into your experience with you.

Like Zinsser says, your special place lives on in your mind because it holds, it embraces, an idea—or an experience, or a person—larger than the place itself.

Find that—whatever it is.

Tap into the power of your place by practicing what Priscilla Long calls a “deliberate, ongoing gathering of words and phrases.” She calls that The Lexicon Practice (from her excellent book, The Writer’s Portable Mentor).

Collect words that will let your readers smell, feel, hear, see, and even taste those very special places in your memoir’s stories.

Click here to read my blog post, The power of your place, and see what unique words describe my place. I hope that will inspire you in writing about your place.

In that same blog post, you’ll learn more about Priscilla’s Lexicon Practice. Take her advice—it will be loads of fun.

Also read my blog post, Where are you from? The exercise there will help you describe your special place and era—and it is so fun, it can be addicting!

Follow these tips and your readers will thank you for giving them an enjoyable, vivid reading experience.

“Where Are You From?” for your December stories

Do you remember our “Where Are You From?” exercise? It’s a deliciously fun writing project—but it’s much more than that!

Based on a poem by George Ella Lyon, your “Where I’m From” sheds light on “the sources of your unique you-ness that you’d never considered before,” according to the website.

And you know what that means! It means your “Where I’m From” is valuable memoir material. It can make your stories come alive for your readers.

Lyon’s online template suggests you write “Where I’m From” something like this:

“I am from _____ (specific ordinary item), from ______ (product name) and _______.

“I am from the ______ (home description … adjective, adjective, sensory detail).

“I am from the ______ (plant, flower, natural item.…)

“I am from _______ (family tradition) and ________ (family trait), from _______ (name of family member) .…

“From __________ (something you were told as a child).…”

.… and so on. (Read more at this link.)

For example, Lyon’s poem begins this way:

“I am from clothespins, from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride.

I am from the dirt under the back porch.…

I am from the forsythia bush

the Dutch elm.…”

I propose you make a unique “Where I’m From” specifically for your December stories—maybe as an introduction to one or more of your vignettes.

Use Lyon’s template as a jumping-off spot, but feel free to soar way beyond it: Branch out in new directions. List December song lyrics, weather, tastes, smells, sights, sounds, textures. Add activities: Did you go ice skating? Make gingerbread houses? Go to The Nutcracker?

Did your parents or grandparents read you a special story every Christmas?

Did mistletoe play an important role in any of your December stories?

Consider writing several December lists: one for early childhood, one for your teen years, one for young adulthood, and so on.

Here’s a fun idea: Include winter fashion trends from various eras in your life.

My “Where I’m From” December stories capture deep-freeze winters in eastern Washington State, Christmas Eve ferry rides in western Washington, and one Christmas in Washington, DC. They include Salvation Army bells and fireplace smoke in crisp night air. And hot chocolate with candy cane stir sticks. Gag gifts and laughter. Bayberry candles. Cordial cherries and newborn babies. And Christmas carols, lots of Christmas carols.

My nine Christmases on the equator, however, were much different: three of them with temperatures of 104 degrees, hot winds, wildfires, and ashes heavy in the air. Melting Jello salad carried to Christmas dinner at the home of relative strangers. Being “home for Christmas, if only in my dreams.”

My Christmas list does not include lefse, lutfisk, or herring, but for some people, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without them!

Some of my friends and relatives celebrate Hanukah rather than Christmas. Maybe you do, too. If so, what flavors, songs, traditions, and stories will be on your “Where I’m From” list?

Give this some thought: What kinds of December details might your readers (kids, grandkids, great-grands) never guess about you?  

This is a busy time of year so maybe you can simply make a list of snippets to remind yourself later.

Then, when the time is right, create your own “Where I’m From” specifically for your December stories, and have loads of fun! (Warning: This can be addicting!)

Sobbing, wild-eyed, gasping leaps of faith

.
Breaking news!

Today Charlie Hale posted a mini-excerpt from my “Where I’m From” over at his blog, along with pieces from a couple of other people.

First read Charlie’s post, Who Are You? Where Are You From? Then read today’s post, The Ancient Warrior, Hula Hoops and Yeats. (My piece is the Hula Hoop one.)

Have you been writing a “Where I’m From” piece? I hope so. (See my August 31 post, Where are You From.) Charlie’s posts will give you oodles of inspiration! 

OK, now on to today's original post:

What leaps of faith have you taken?

I’m talking about a heart-stopping, bawling, howling plunge into the unfamiliar—with God.

A breath-taking, blubbering dive into the untried, the unproven—with God.

I wince when I type the phrase, “taking a leap of faith,” because its overuse has stolen its intensity, its radicalness.

I’m talking about faith that calls you to hurdle yourself over the edge—blindfolded, shrieking—into the unknown, with God.

You have no guarantee things will work out.

You can only begin to imagine what surprises await you.

You wonder how you’ll hold up, or if you’ll even live through it.

You feel the last-moment doubts, the dread, the teeth-gritting, the labored breathing. 

The heart-racing, stomach-knotting, head-spinning terror.

The throbbing, queasy feeling of being out of control.

You know only three things:      

(1) God asked you to do something way beyond your abilities and comfort zones, something that scares you out of your wits and makes it hard to sleep at night.

(2)  Everything within you cries out, “I must do this. I cannot not do this.”

(3) God, who is trustworthy, will be with you every moment.

What screaming, wild-eyed, gasping leaps of faith have you taken?

What did God teach you through it? What did you learn about yourself? About God? In what ways did the experience strengthen your faith?

Write your stories!

Resources and links:

Where are you from,

http://spiritualmemoirs101.blogspot.com/2011/08/where-are-you-from.html

Charlie Hale’s Who Are You? Where Are You From,

http://storiesconnectloveheals.com/2012/02/15/who-are-you-where-are-you-from

Charlie Hale’s The Ancient Warrior, Hula Hoops and Yeats,

http://storiesconnectloveheals.com/2012/02/18/the-ancient-warrior-the-hula-hoop-and-yeats

“Where Are You From?” and your memoir’s structure

I have a new idea and I’m eager to share it with you!

It started with last Wednesday’s intriguing exercise, “Where Are You From?” (or “Where I’m From” ). If you haven’t read that, here’s a link. You don’t want to miss it—it’s good.  http://spiritualmemoirs101.blogspot.com/2011/08/where-are-you-from.html

You can write your own “Where I’m From” as stand-alone piece, or—here’s my new idea: You could:

• write it chronologically,
• divide it into segments, and
• use each as an introduction to a set of chapters that took place during that block of time.

Confusing? Here’s an example.

I’ve written my “Where I’m From” chronologically, starting with my earliest memories—around age three. The first page or so covers up to age eight. That segment of my essay (excerpt below) could serve as an introduction to a division in my book.

Here’s what I mean. The page introducing Part One would look something like this:

Part One:

My First Eight Years

I am from Jerry and Kay, children of the Great Depression, accustomed to hard work and sacrifice and doing without.

I am from Jerry and Kay who came of age during World War II, patriotic young people who looked death—and life—in the face. Young adults committed to frugality and honorable conduct and self-discipline.

I am from grasshoppers in sun-baked grasses.

I am from the Inland Empire’s deep-freeze blizzard of 1950 the day my baby brother was born.

I am from a Zenith black-and-white TV with an Indian-silhouetted test pattern.…

I am from “The B. I. B. L. E. Yes that’s the book for me.…” and “Eensy Weensy Spider” and “I’m a Little Tea Pot.”

I’m from the annual Scottish Picnic, all dressed up in my tartan kilt, ruffly white blouse, and bonnet.

I am from “two jerks of a little dead mousie’s tail.”

I am from rustling wheat fields and unrelenting August sun and powdery Palouse soil and pie cherries from my grandparents’ backyard tree.…

I am from lilacs and hollyhocks and daisies.…

Following that segment of “Where I’m From,” readers could find chapters pertaining to that period of my life.

This portion of a Table of Contents would look like this:

Part 1: My First Eight Years

          Chapter 1’s title

          Chapter 2’s title

          Chapter 3’s title

          Chapter 4’s title

At age eight, my family moved across the state and everything changed.

Here, then, I could use segment two (excerpt below) of my “Where I’m From” as an introduction to the second division in my book.

Part Two:

Mist and Moss and  Salt-sea Air 

I am from a Mayflower moving van, transported to mist and moss and salt-sea air.

I am from untamed blackberry vines and emerald grass and mountains reaching heaven.

I am from foghorns and ferryboats and salmon sizzling over driftwood-and-seaweed beachfires.…

The Table of Contents would then look like this:

Part 1: My First Eight Years

          Chapter 1’s title

          Chapter 2’s title

          Chapter 3’s title

          Chapter 4’s title

          Chapter 5’s title

Part 2: Mist and Moss and Salt-sea Air

          Chapter 6’s title

          Chapter 7’s title

          Chapter 8’s title

          Chapter 9’s title

And so on.

I’m intrigued with the idea, are you?

Would you like the latest posts from Spiritual Memoirs 101

delivered to your e-mail inbox? It’s easy!

Type your e-mail address in the little gizmo

in the right column toward the top.

I post extra tidbits on Facebook.

If you don’t want to miss them, follow on Facebook

(click in the right column).

Related posts:

Where are you from? http://spiritualmemoirs101.blogspot.com/2011/08/where-are-you-from.html

Your memoir’s structure  http://spiritualmemoirs101.blogspot.com/2011/09/your-memoirs-structure-think-of-it-as.html

“Where Are You From?”

I’ve been having a whale of a good time with a writing exercise making its way around the writers’ blogosphere.

I have a hunch you'll enjoy it, too.

Based on a piece by George Ella Lyon, you can take a jaunt, a pleasant meander—a treasure hunt—that leads you to “the sources of your unique you-ness that you'd never considered before,” according to the website “Where Are You From?” at http://www.swva.net/fred1st/wif.htm.

The exercise gives us an opportunity to “look afresh at what we normally take for granted” (George Kneller).

George Ella Lyon’s Where I’m From begins this way:

“I am from clothespins,

from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride.

I am from the dirt under the back porch.

(Black, glistening,

it tasted like beets.)

I am from the forsythia bush

the Dutch elm

whose long-gone limbs I remember

as if they were my own.…”

(Read more of this poem and how George Ella Lyons got started with this adventure at http://www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html.)

Here is an excerpt from the "Where I'm From" essay Ann Kroeker wrote:

“I am from the persimmon tree, ripe fruit dropping, splitting, squishing soft into the grassy lawn below. I am from sweet-spring lilac and lily-of-the-valley.… I am from soybean and corn fields, hay and straw, and Black Angus cattle grazing in the pond field.… I am from Dick and Lynn, editors who carried home the scent of newsprint and ink in their hair and clothes.…”

(Continue reading Ann’s essay at http://annkroeker.com/2011/06/30/there-and-back-again-where-im-from.)

Melissa Brotherton, a gal from my growing-up territory, writes words I treasure. Here’s a snippet:

“I am from rhododendrons and daffodils celebrated by parades and lemonade stands, from volcanos that rest, and gray beaches littered with rocks and worn down shell fragments.… I’m from a city whose name you only pronounce correctly if you’re from there.…”

(Read more at http://melissabrotherton.com/2011/06/22/where-im-from.)

Here’s an excerpt from Stephanie Precourt’s essay:

“I am from crayons left melting in the sun, from Kool-Aid and tying a sheet to the box fan in the hallway.… I’m from Irish lullabies and stumpy cankle legs, from Wilsons and Maynards and Hoovers and Riddles.… I’m from I’ve got the joy joy joy joy down in my heart.…”

(Continue reading Stephanie’s piece at http://www.adventuresinbabywearing.com/2011/06/where-im-from.html.).

My own attempt has been great fun—it’s four pages long and I’m not finished! I’ll share excerpts soon.

How about you? Where are you from?

As part of your memoir, perhaps you’d like to write an essay about your one-of-a-kind you-ness. You can start by looking over this template at http://www.swva.net/fred1st/wif.htm.

Consider the template just a suggestion, a starting point. Feel free to branch out in new directions. For example, like Stephanie, I included song lyrics in my essay. You could include poems or Bible verses, too. Anything goes!

Give it a try. Look afresh at your uniquely unfolding life—maybe you’ve been taking it for granted.

What kinds of information, even everyday stuff, might your kids, grandkids, and great-grands never guess about you? Put it in writing!

(A word of caution: Writing “Where I’m From” can become addictive. You’ll want to keep pen and paper on your nightstand.)

If you compose your own Where I’m From, please share it with us!

Leave a link to your blog in the comment section below, or on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Spiritual-Memoirs-101/208789029139817), or e-mail me at GrandmaLetters [at] aol [dot] com. (Replace [at] with @ and [dot] with a period, scrunch everything together, and your e-mail should reach me.) Write “Where I’m From” in the subject line so I’ll know it’s not spam. Thanks.

Soon I’ll suggest a way you could use this format to structure your memoir. The idea intrigues me. Y’all come back!