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marathoner452Might as well start at the beginning and work from there. Week 1 of 2005.
The Ten Stepping Stones.
Think about where you are in your life right now. Now think back to your beginnings: where you were born, who your parents were, what were the circumstances of your birth. In this exercise, you will look at your life and explore how you got from your birth beginnings to where you are right now.
You will write ten stepping stones. Start with your birth as number one. Now think about the turning points in your life that nudged you in one direction that changed the shape of who you are or the direction you were going.
A stepping stone could be a physical move: your family moving from Australia to England, maybe, or from Springfield PA to Oxford Pa, in the U.S. Stepping stones can also be important changes in relationships: the birth of a sibling, the death of a parent, a marriage, a divorce. Whatever change shifted the direction of your life. Think about your life chronologically and note the turning points.
Stepping stones can also be internal, such as things that you've learned (like how to read!) or changes in your inner landscape. I always use the example of Malcolm X. He had a huge turning point when he was sent to prison. That was a physical reality that changed everything. He had another huge turning point when he converted to Islam. That was an inner reality that also changed his life forever.
At this point in my class, I admit that I've gone on and on too long, and it's time for them to write. I always add, though, that ten is really an arbitrary number. It helps to start with that number, however, as it keeps the project from getting TOO huge, with the journaler writing every tiny change, or from getting too small, with the journaler not thinking hard enough about the subtle but immensely important changes. If you have just a few more than ten stepping stones listed or one or two less, that's okay.
1. Born August 3rd, 1983.
2. November 1st, 1987, twin sisters born-no longer an only child, had to learn how to entertain myself and how to be an example for others.
3. 1st grade I got tubes put in my ears and I stopped missing so much school because of ear infections. On the one hand, I never really learned how to swim because I wouldn't go underwater without my fingers in my ears, but on the other hand my love of reading really took off.
4. March 17th, 1991, brother born. I KNEW he was going to be born on St. Patrick's Day but no one believed me and I was right! Ha!
5. 4th grade I started playing the clarinet, leading to a lifelong appreciation of music. I kept playing until I graduated from high school 9 years later.
6. Senior year of high school I took AP American history where we read a book called The Peculiar Institution about American antebellum slavery. It would be the inspiration for my senior thesis in college 4 years later.
7. September 11th, 2001. 3 weeks into my freshman year of college the world as we knew it changed forever.
8. March 2002. I completed an Outward Bound sea kayaking course in the Bahamas, and I still didn't know how to swim. My pale German skin was sunburnt beyond belief and I almost had to be airlifted out of the islands for sun poisoning. I'm not kidding. That's exactly what happened to another girl on my course and I wasn't far behind.
9. October 27th, 2002. This remedial gym student from elementary school finished the 27th Marine Corps Marathon in 4 hour and 52 minutes, the first of at least 5 and likely many more marathons.
10. April 30th, 2005. I turned turned in my senior college thesis, 56 pages entitled Slavery and Freedom in Key West and St. Mary's County.
11. May 14th, 2005. Graduated from St. Mary's College magna cum laude (if just barely) in history with a concentration in Africa and the African Diaspora.
12. August 29th, 2005. The day I start working for the American Red Cross, Katrina hits.
I'm sure there are more, but those are the biggies.
~Bethany
The Ten Stepping Stones.
Think about where you are in your life right now. Now think back to your beginnings: where you were born, who your parents were, what were the circumstances of your birth. In this exercise, you will look at your life and explore how you got from your birth beginnings to where you are right now.
You will write ten stepping stones. Start with your birth as number one. Now think about the turning points in your life that nudged you in one direction that changed the shape of who you are or the direction you were going.
A stepping stone could be a physical move: your family moving from Australia to England, maybe, or from Springfield PA to Oxford Pa, in the U.S. Stepping stones can also be important changes in relationships: the birth of a sibling, the death of a parent, a marriage, a divorce. Whatever change shifted the direction of your life. Think about your life chronologically and note the turning points.
Stepping stones can also be internal, such as things that you've learned (like how to read!) or changes in your inner landscape. I always use the example of Malcolm X. He had a huge turning point when he was sent to prison. That was a physical reality that changed everything. He had another huge turning point when he converted to Islam. That was an inner reality that also changed his life forever.
At this point in my class, I admit that I've gone on and on too long, and it's time for them to write. I always add, though, that ten is really an arbitrary number. It helps to start with that number, however, as it keeps the project from getting TOO huge, with the journaler writing every tiny change, or from getting too small, with the journaler not thinking hard enough about the subtle but immensely important changes. If you have just a few more than ten stepping stones listed or one or two less, that's okay.
1. Born August 3rd, 1983.
2. November 1st, 1987, twin sisters born-no longer an only child, had to learn how to entertain myself and how to be an example for others.
3. 1st grade I got tubes put in my ears and I stopped missing so much school because of ear infections. On the one hand, I never really learned how to swim because I wouldn't go underwater without my fingers in my ears, but on the other hand my love of reading really took off.
4. March 17th, 1991, brother born. I KNEW he was going to be born on St. Patrick's Day but no one believed me and I was right! Ha!
5. 4th grade I started playing the clarinet, leading to a lifelong appreciation of music. I kept playing until I graduated from high school 9 years later.
6. Senior year of high school I took AP American history where we read a book called The Peculiar Institution about American antebellum slavery. It would be the inspiration for my senior thesis in college 4 years later.
7. September 11th, 2001. 3 weeks into my freshman year of college the world as we knew it changed forever.
8. March 2002. I completed an Outward Bound sea kayaking course in the Bahamas, and I still didn't know how to swim. My pale German skin was sunburnt beyond belief and I almost had to be airlifted out of the islands for sun poisoning. I'm not kidding. That's exactly what happened to another girl on my course and I wasn't far behind.
9. October 27th, 2002. This remedial gym student from elementary school finished the 27th Marine Corps Marathon in 4 hour and 52 minutes, the first of at least 5 and likely many more marathons.
10. April 30th, 2005. I turned turned in my senior college thesis, 56 pages entitled Slavery and Freedom in Key West and St. Mary's County.
11. May 14th, 2005. Graduated from St. Mary's College magna cum laude (if just barely) in history with a concentration in Africa and the African Diaspora.
12. August 29th, 2005. The day I start working for the American Red Cross, Katrina hits.
I'm sure there are more, but those are the biggies.
~Bethany
