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Summarize Your Life in 6 Words
“SUMMARIZE YOUR LIFE IN 6 WORDS.”
NOT QUITE WHAT I WAS PLANNING: 6-WORD MEMOIRS BY WRITERS FAMOUS AND OBSCURE by Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser, challenged people in an unusual memoir project. Supposedly inspired by the legend that, when challenged, Ernest Hemingway wrote a half dozen word story:
“For Sale: Baby Shoes, Never Worn.” Short. Succinct. Six words. (Sad.)
On a much more positive note, challenging ourselves to write our own 6-WORD MEMOIR is really interesting.
Michael Sean Symonds who is a meditation instructor in Canada actually posted a short piece on the ODE bulletin board asking, “If you had to write the story of your life as it was, is and as you hope it to be, in 6 WORDS OR LESS, what would you say?”
Symonds, Smith and Fershleiser give us a wonderful place to start around this idea of “6 WORDS…”
- What are your “6 WORDS” that represent your LIFE STORY?
- What are the “6 WORDS” that represent the STORY/MESSAGE for your FOR IMPACT ORGANIZATION?
Note: If you’re a For Impact follower, you’ll know that we always start with your MESSAGE ON A NAPKIN! A lot of that is visual but also includes a few words. This is just a different play on this same idea.
Here are our Founder, Tom’s 6 WORDS:
LIVE. LOVE. LAUGH. LEARN. LEAVE LEGACY.
P.S. Here are some interesting, funny ‘6 Words’ from some people to help you get going.
- “Well, I thought it was funny.” Stephen Colbert
- “Revenge is living well without you.” Joyce Carol Oates
- “Dropped out. Got out. Lucked out.” Ben Kweller
- “I asked. They answered. I wrote.” Sebastian Junger
