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“By the old Oak tree”, Frank Liske Park, Concord, NC — Oct 2020
In a post (“Saving Our Personal Stories“) I published in June 2020, I’d mentioned being enrolled in StoryWorth, where you’re asked questions about your life and experiences on a set schedule for a year. These stories are collected, and when the project is finished can be published as a book. It was a gift from my daughter and son, who thought it a good way to collect, record, and get to know a little more about their ole dad.
My schedule has been one question a week, so I get a new question via email every Monday morning. I’ve been trying to write in such a way as to provide some insight into who I am, my personal experiences, and share, if any, personal lessons learned. When I publish my answers back to StoryWorth, I’ve selected Bonnie, my daughter, and my son to get notifications so they can go to the site and read my “stories.” I just finished question number 24, so I’ve still got a ways to go.
It’s been an interesting exercise for me, and it’s taken some effort and personal introspection beyond recording history and events. A few of the more in-depth questions have included:
- At what times in your life were you the happiest, and why?;
- What is one of the most selfless things you have done in life?;
- What gives you peace of mind?; and
- How has your life turned out differently than you imagined it would?
I’ve been somewhat surprised by how much all of us seem to get out of this process. I’ve certainly gained from it, and if how quickly my kids read each new answer is an indicator, then they are finding it interesting as well.
I’ve made an effort to share not just the good points of my life and myself but also those times I’ve been disappointed or failed. I often start blog posts with a quote but in this case, I’ll end with one.
“If there’s one point learned in my journey from imagined to reality, it’s failing at a few of life’s challenges doesn’t make you a failure unless you let it. Forgive yourself, for it’s often the perceived failures that lead to successful future outcomes.” — Me, from StoryWorth Answers
Seems like some good advice at the end there Earl. Those questions require some time to think about for sure. I’ve never been good at some of the typical “interview” type questions like “where do you see yourself in 5 years…” or remembering in detail a lot of my life experiences because of some memory issues – let alone 24 and more of them. So I guess I am glad I don’t have kids to present them to me. :-)
I’m no good at having and projecting detailed future plans either. I’ve come to realize and accept I’m a person who views the world and most of its matters in shades of grey rather than only black and white. Some things will peg the needle at either end of the spectrum, but there’s still a spectrum present. So it’s rather hard for me to have a firm plan or expectation for the future when I know there is such deviation, the grey, sure to happen. There’s not so much detail recall left in this old mind either. Definitely some bad sectors on my old brain harddrive. But it’s nice to have a few things recorded and it’s been a mental exercise for me. Thanks for the comment, Mark. Take care!
LOL Totally relate to the bad sectors on the brains hard drive. My daughter gifted me a book about 4 years ago that was about her fathers life, a legacy. It was a nice hardbound book with questions such as you mention. They wanted you to write in the pages of the book. I however, started writing my own but using the questions from the book. I like the idea of a weekly email rather than my process of waiting until the books done.
Yes, the process StoryWorth uses is pretty good and you can set your schedule and number of questions at whatever you like. One each week is about right for me. I don’t like to overdo the deep thinking! ;-)
Thanks and I hope you’re having a good weekend. Stay well.