A series of self-reflective writing prompts. Take five to ten minutes reflecting on each part's prompts. Embrace whatever thoughts, feelings, or ideas arise. Write without inhibition.
PART I: Attending to Birth
Birth stories range from the terrific to the terrifying, yet each one shares a common thread: the transfer of lineage, the foundation of physical kinship, the beauty of creation. What is the story of your birth? Who was present? Where did it take place? Were there complications? Furthermore, what can we make of lineage? How has lineage been passed to you? Do you share personality traits with your parents? Does your lineage come from somewhere (or someone) else?
Sample Response:
I don’t know a lot of specifics about when I was born. When I asked my parents what time I was born so I could try to get a more accurate zodiac sign reading, they didn’t remember. What I do know, however, is that I was the first birth my grandmother ever witnessed. When she had her two daughters, she was under anesthesia. I’m not sure where she was when my older brother and older cousin were born. But she was there when I came along. So I guess in a way, I hold a special place in her heart. In terms of how I was as a baby, I heard I never cried for the first year. Even on an airplane. I had a great reputation. Now, I sometimes cry on airplanes. Perhaps that’s regression?
Lineage. My mom is great at singing. So is my dad. I think that was passed down to me. I look exactly like my mother when she was younger. You can hold up a picture of her from college next to a picture of me from college and the similarities will be stark. My mom runs long distances. My dad ran short distances in college for the track team. In high school, I ran both long and short distances. Running was in my blood. I think I also inherited a lot of creativity from my parents, specifically my father, who enjoys writing songs and expressing himself. From my mother, I inherited something that seems small. It’s incredibly important. Forethought. The ability to plan. Thank you, Mom.
PART II: Parents and Children
Education can shape, transform, or solidify a person’s sense of self and the perspectives they hold. What role has education played in your life? What is education for? Which doors has it opened for you? Which doors has it closed? How has it affected your familial relationships? Has it brought you closer to your kin? Farther apart?
PART III: Subsistence and Strategy
Everybody comes from somewhere. However, at times, the question of exactly where one belongs becomes muddled and difficult to answer. What are the different communities to which you belong? What values have those communities instilled upon you? Do you carry those communities within you, today? Furthermore, what is required to claim those threads of belonging? What paper trail of belonging follows you?
PART IV: Women and Men
Depending on who you ask, love is either the most pervasive force in the universe or a waste of time. What does love mean to you? What is your relationship between love and kinship? Love and marriage? Is romantic love a priority for you? Are there restrictions on who you are allowed to love?
PART V: Land and Lineage
The geography we live in shapes us just as much as our relationships do. Take a few minutes and think about the geographies of your life. Where are the four or five places you’ve spent the most time? What do they look like? What is the geography of your hometown? Where are you now? Consider the spaces in which you live. Do you live with others? Members of your family? Friends? How have the geographies of your life changed over time? Has this affected your sense of self?
PART VI: Loss and Transformation
Perceptions of what old age means varies across cultures and spaces. Are you looking forward to aging? What can old age offer? What do the relationships with the elders in your life look like? What thoughts and feelings to you have towards the end of aging: death?