“I'd like for you to write your own version of the poem Where I’m From by George Ella Lyon,” my writing mentor said. It was the first week of our Poetry Critique Group. I was expecting to be challenged, but I was not expecting the first assignment to make me dig so deep and feel so emotional. My writing has been focusing on themes of family and home for months now, but something about this assignment felt different. This time someone was asking me for my story. I wasn’t writing it out of my own desire to write. It felt exciting to have a prompt line up with things I already want to write about. And also terrifying. But I suppose the best assignments always do.
For days I scribbled notes in my journal. Memories from my childhood home, food that felt significant (and is incredibly hard to find here in New England), and family heritage (the good and the bad). As I compiled all of my notes I realized just how much those memories, foods, and family have made me who I am today. And I am so very grateful.
Two weeks later my friend Kelli was over for dinner. She was telling me about her latest assignment in a class she’s taking for her social work degree. “It’s something I think you’d like,” she said. “We read this poem about childhood memories and had to write our own. It was hard, but it was really fun.” I stopped chopping the carrots for our soup that evening and said “Was it Where I’m From by George Ella Lyon?” “Yes,” she replied, “how did you know?!”
I’m now convinced this is an exercise everyone should do. It is hard. But it is also fun. There is something quite rewarding about writing down the things that feel significant in our lives. The stuff that helps make us who we are.
This month, take some time to scribble your own memories and see what you come up with. And if you feel comfortable, come back here and share it in the comments. I’d love to know a bit more about where you’re from!
Photo by Prateek Nuti from Pexels.