What’s Your Story?

“Each of us is a book waiting to be written, and that book, if written, results in a person explained.” ~ Thomas M. Cirignano, The Constant Outsider

How many times have you told yourself that you were going to start writing a journal?

Or maybe you were going to start a video blog? Do you surf the web and “pin” your favorite images and articles? How often do you post on social media about how your day is going, what you are eating for dinner, or the traffic on the way to work? What about those quick videos that are shared with friends and family of the latest awkward situation you are in or the dream vacation you know everyone at home is jealous you are on? Are you one of the multitude of people out there that takes a quick snapshot of yourself enjoying the sunset, glass of wine in hand? Or maybe warm, socked feet in front of a fire on a cold winter night. Perhaps it’s a short video of the buckets of snow falling outside that just doesn’t seem to end.

Pinning, Tweeting, Status Updates. Vines, Instagrams, and Snapchats…

Every one of these is an example of what could arguably be considered the modern tools of today’s memoirists. A way for us to share our lives with the world through the digital means at our disposal; satisfying an individual’s desire to share their experiences with others. And that desire only seems to be growing.

Twitter, the company famous for getting so many people to encapsulate the actions of their lives into snappy little 140-character limit blurbs, is now rumored to be considering expanding that character to limit to 10,000! “And why not?” I say. “Go for it!” It satisfies the urge for people to share, and this way they can share more. It fulfills that voyeuristic nature in all of us, so now we can each be more of a voyeurist! And for those who want to share even more, start a blog!

“Every one of these is an example of what could arguably be considered the modern tools of today’s memoirists. A way for us to share our lives with the world through the digital means at our disposal.”

Reach out and touch someone…

And share these digital manifestations of your inmost and outmost musings through are a seemingly limitless number of blog hosting sites. To someone like me, who is a newbie to this whole world, it boggles the mind! But I would imagine that the thrill of getting one more follower, one more “like,” one more “re-tweet” is a similar sensation to that which comes to a published author when they find out that they have had a sale of one of their writings. That little bubble of warmth that forms inside, to know that someone wants to read a volume of poems written from their soul or that collection of short stories inspired by their childhood. Now that I am embarking on this digital memoir adventure, I guess I shall find out.

However a person chooses to express themselves, no matter if that format taken is social media, a blog, video blogs, or the printed word, these are all expressions of life. Your life. Your experiences. Your triumphs. Your heartbreaks. Your dreams. Your failures. In short, your memories. If you do any of these things, even only occasionally, I say be proud to call yourself a memoirst.