In responding to a request for an autobiographic article, I failed to anticipate where the story would take me. The assignment was undefined, except the specific request that the story reveal my “who I am” and “where I came from”.
As I remembered and revisited memories which usually remain buried, I found myself wandering through photographs from my Dad and myself over the decades starting shortly after Mom and Dad were married. With seventy years of pictures, clear memories as ones best captured through emotions (my second and third birthdays come to mind), I found myself wrestling with the details of my life. What is useful and helpful in telling my story; what is best left in an undiscovered corner of my mind? When are the details useful versus simply creating noise and confusion?
The lessons which emerged in the process of writing included.
Details matter! I found two distinct audiences. The impact of the details recalled and remembered informed and reshaped the way I understand my past. I found myself looking through the lens of times with experience by my side. In recapturing the details, several stories were recast with very different lessons. The change was not only in how I understood myself. Details changed how I saw villains and friends and pivotal events.
The second audience is one who will hear my story. While very relevant, the details only had meaning in a broader context. The nuances of family, friends, and the experiences we share become interesting when each is a part of something larger and more interesting.
In many cases, the details seemed almost unbelievable. I know them as facts, if only because I was there. However, when a listener hears them for the first time, the writer should exercise care in how the details are used.
I read and reread the psalmist’s words this morning, “It’s like the dew on Mount Hermon flowing down the slopes of Zion. Yes, that’s where God commands the blessing, ordains eternal life.” (Psalm 133.3) This is a story where details matter. I want more of them.
