Where Are You From?
Journal
Through this prompt, we will be exploring our past (which is really always present with
us). We will be looking at our childhoods, our beginnings, our roots. We are working at
telling our stories, which we must do in order to survive them, learn from them, grow
beyond them.
Consider this question: Where are you from? It is a question we are often asked,
and we usually answer with a word or two – Atlanta, Woodstock, New York, New
Orleans. But your challenge here is to answer with a series of images, pictures,
memories.
Write for twenty minutes or so, just making a list of sentences. “I am from _____.”
“I am from _______.” Complete each sentence with an image or memory or moment
from your life. Explore the question fully and freely. Answer the question with images
of a place, of the land, of the neighborhood. Answer the question with images of family,
of history, of ancestry. Write and write and write.
For Public
Now, refine these sentences – make them strong and true and grounded in the stuff of
your life. And begin weaving them together. The form is up to you. You may realize
that you have a poem to write, or you may realize that you have prose. You can weave
together images from all facets of your life; or you can focus on images of a place or
images of family or images struggle. Play with this – write and rewrite – just see where
it goes.