Crossing Over: The Last Year of My Life
By: Susan Deborah Schiller
From the "Write to Freedom" Mini Memoir eCourse
Earlier this year, I felt God showing me that it's a year for a quantum leap, a time to really BELIEVE in what He's been teaching me all my life. I also sensed that this is my last year. It's interesting that many people have been sensing the exact same thing… that we are about to cross over.
What is the legacy you will leave the next generation? Have you written or recorded it in some way? This mini memoir is one way to preserve the wisdom of our generation, including the mistakes we've made and what we've learned; individually and as a whole.
You may want to consider listing your major life lessons in the form of titles. They may be titles of chapters, short stories, or quotes that will strategically fill up empty space in your memoir. Using those titles, decide which ones you want to write a story about. It might be a life experience, a poem, a dream, a book you read, a song, a picture, or simply a quote you want to remember.
I'll show you a few of my own, as idea starters. You can be as creative as you want to be with selecting content. Write several stories or just write one – it's all up to you! Here are a sampling of my own pages:
- The greatest beauty is made out of chaos!
- You can experience a Garden of Eden lifestyle!
- Covenant love is the best way to protect our families!
- It is as you say.
- Rule in the midst of your enemies.
- Grin in the face of disaster.
- You become who you behold.
- God wants to be your Hero.
- Holiness doesn't look like perfection; it's being comfortable in your own skin!
- How I see God is how I will be.
- We are more than survivors – we are avengers – heroes – champions – warriors!
- Live with your eyes wide open; never be afraid to face reality!
- God responds to faith, not need.
- You are made MORE BEAUTIFUL for having been broken!
- Pain is a gift!
- Tell your story; heal the world.
I have just under 100 titles, but not all of them will be used. At this point in the journey, we are still gathering ingredients for the soup, setting them on the counter, and organizing. Mainly we are collecting and building from the pieces you have already written.
“Write about small, self-contained incidents that are still vivid in your memory. If you remember them, it’s because they contain a larger truth that your readers will recognize in their own lives. Think small and you’ll wind up finding the big themes in your family saga.” — William Kowlton Zinsser
Now you can take your list, rearrange it, organize it to themes, or leave it haphazard. This will form the bulk of your life story book! You may notice there are certain themes in your titles. Those themes can become the titles of your chapters, with the combined stories providing content for those chapters. Or those themes may become the key notes for your audio story – the keys you want to drop into the hands of your listeners.
Add some photos, pull in your quotes, spice it up with poetry and paintings, if you wish… and that will take you very near completing your first draft. Soon, I will provide the nuts and bolts of getting published!
As you pull this together, you will probably feel "full" – and hopefully much more "free"! Your book is a legacy, but it also functions like a compass.
As Steve Jobs said, knowing you will die soon is a tool you can use to help you make the best choices. Our choices are a compass to our destiny!
My Full Story What I Believe Contact Me
With all my love,
Sue
Copyright © 2010 to 2015 Team Family Online, All rights reserved. For reprint permission or for any private or commercial use, in any form of media, please contact Susan Schiller.
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