Twelve scenes that hold a life.
A life story is not a timeline. It is a handful of scenes, a sense of chapters, and a thread. These twelve scenes come from the way people who study life stories ask about them. Tell them in any order. Skip the ones that are not for today.
How to use them
- Pick one. Not the best one. The one that made you pause.
- Say it out loud for two minutes, or write until you run out.
- Give it a rough time: an age, a house, a season. Guessing is fine.
- Leave it there. Come back tomorrow for another.
The twelve scenes
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1
Answer it
Your earliest memory
What is the first thing you remember? It doesn’t have to be important. Where were you, who was there, and what did it feel like?
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2
Answer it
A warm childhood scene
A clear, good scene from childhood. Put yourself back there: the light, the sounds, who you were with.
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3
Answer it
A high point
A moment, not a whole period, when life felt as good as it gets. What happened, and what does it say about you?
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4
Answer it
A scene from your teens
A vivid moment from somewhere between thirteen and nineteen. Who were you trying to be?
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5
Answer it
A turning point
A moment after which you were never quite the same. What changed, and did you know it at the time?
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6
Answer it
A vivid adult memory
A scene from adult life that stands out, good or hard. Why does this one stay?
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7
Answer it
A moment of wisdom
A time you showed good judgement, or someone else did and you learned from it. What did you understand afterwards?
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8
Answer it
A moment of awe
A time you felt part of something bigger: in nature, in music, in faith, in a crowd, or completely alone.
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9
Answer it
A hard childhood scene
A difficult scene from childhood. Take your time and write only as much as feels right today. You can mark it as a hard one and it will be held quietly.
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10
Answer it
A low point
A moment when life felt as bad as it gets. Write only as much as feels right today. What happened, and what, if anything, came from it?
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11
Answer it
The next chapter
If the chapter you are living now ends well, what does the next one look like? What are you hoping for, and what are you afraid of?
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12
Answer it
The thread through it all
Looking back over the scenes you have written, what keeps coming back? If your life so far had a theme, what would it be?
Turning points
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Answer it
What decision split your life into a before and an after?
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Answer it
What almost happened, the near miss or the path not taken, that still visits your thoughts?
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Answer it
When did you last surprise yourself? What did it reveal?
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Answer it
What ended that you never properly grieved?
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Answer it
What began quietly and turned out to change everything?
Read the longer version.
Every answer lands in its place.
Say it, and Lapriland writes it down in your words and puts it on the line of your life, whether it happened today or when you were about nine.