Writing Yourself Home

"The impulse for much writing is homesickness.  You are trying to get back home, and in your writing you are invoking that home, so you are assuaging the homesickness."  ~ Joan Didion

In a recent blog post, I suggested that reading old journals would provide much fodder for lifestory writing.  There is another potential source of seeds to get your stories started:  old address books.  Whether they are your old address books, or those of  family members matters not.  You might even refer to old Christmas Card Lists or Logs for similar information.

While updating my own address book, it dawned on me that I held the keyto many memories that could be spun into lifestories.  Granted, the sparse details in any given address book entry can't be turned into stories in and of themselves.  But, looking at an entry in my own address book caused me to think of someone for the first time in a very long time.  As I sat and reminisced, I realized that just reading that person's name and address evoked all sorts of mental pictures. 

Closing my eyes for a bit of time travel, I saw the streets of my childhood... I was transported to that location and a flood of memories came front and center.  I saw the house I grew up in and the back yard I played in as a child.  Allowing myself to drift back in time, I soon saw my childhood friend (whose name had sparked this whole trip back in time) and the other neighborhood kids. 

After I allowed myself to return to the here and now, I jotted down a few details from my time travel.  Then, over the course of the next few days, I made more notes, had more memories and saw more bits and pieces of a time I'd long forgotten.  Before I knew it, I had a story about that time, that place, that person.  All thanks to the address book entry.

So, what are you waiting for?  Go find an old, outdated address book.  Spend a little time with the people and places you find within its pages.  Then get busy writing yourself home!