The Story About Me

As a writer, you’d think I’d have the edge on storytelling. But telling (and thereby creating) the story of who I am and where I’m going in my life was my biggest neglected project. Sitting in my top drawer, half finished with a coffee stain and in need of a vicious edit.

A few years ago, I dusted it off and made an effort to hone my personal stories. I started Journaling, to write about my own thoughts, feelings and experiences, and I moved to a new city, got a new job, and started socialising more with new people, forcing me to tell my story often.

To give you an idea of how this changed my story telling, here’s a before and after of the story of why I became an English teacher:

Before: I don’t know. I guess because I read heaps of books and I get a lot out of that. It just made sense. I had some good teachers too.

After: When I was a depressed, angry teenager in high school, I had some wonderful teachers who inspired and encouraged me. So teaching was on my mind as a career path. I went into uni not knowing what I wanted to do, but I studied English Literature, History and Philosophy and at the end of my bachelor degree, I was choosing between post grad research leading into academia, or a post grad certificate to get into high school teaching. I chose teaching because I was sick of studying and I wanted money! But in doing so, I found my calling. I might eventually get around to that PhD, but I’m now more interested in the teaching rather than the research side of academia.

The first version isn’t a narrative and is based on my lack of self reflection. That's how I would talk about myself all the time.