Themes for Guided Autobiography 101
Major Branching Points of
Your Life
Your Family
Health, Body, and Well-Being
Money, Work, and Career
Your Sexual Identity
Experiences With and Ideas
About Death
Spiritual Life and Values
We write as much as we like but bring in 2 pages or 1,000 words or less to share.
Here are samples of the priming questions -
Major Branching Points in Your Life
Consider the first time you experienced a formidable change or insight in your life? How old were you? What happened? Why was it important?
Who most brilliantly influenced
the direction of your life; a family member, friend, teacher, doctor, lawyer, a
political or religious leader, a stranger?
Tornadoes, fires, floods, and
automobile accidents change lives. Were there disasters that impacted
your life?
Was there an epiphany that gave you back to yourself more rare than you knew yourself to be; a love, accomplishment, gift, travel experience, altered state?
Were there emotional events,
such as divorce, death, abuse or illness that caused your life to redirect
itself; to branch out or go dormant?
Did your ethnic, religious, social
or financial status have a major influence on your life? Has this been an
advantage and/or a disadvantage; both?
Did geography play a
role in the nature of your life? Has travel given you a greater frame of reference? Did moving around in the world point out what is too much and too little about your own life and world views?
Is there an event that felt
like a graduation of sorts? Did you
speak truth to power, find your voice, get out of a dead zone, or emancipate
yourself in some welcome way?
Have you responded to a “calling”
in your life? Has this call guided you
in a creative, disappointing, surprising or profound direction?
What do you credit for the
peace you have within your most personal inner landscape?
Who was/is on a “wave length” with
you? Who perches on the branches with
you?
What is your most recent branching
point? Are you branching out now?
Once you complete the 8 weeks of Guided Autobiography 101, there is the option to continue writing. The on-going class offers more freedom - less structure with themes and priming questions.
If you choose to work on a particular project, you can work independent of the themes but with the support of the class, sharing and receiving feedback.
Your Family – Priming Questions
Who held power in your family? Who made the major decisions? Did you think they were fair? Did you challenge your family?
Which members of your family have you
felt close to? Which ones felt distant?
Did you enjoy your family? Did you feel supported and loved?
Were there people in your family that you
were afraid of?
What were the rules, the manners, and
the requirements in your household? What
were the repercussions?
Did/does your family have a hero?
Who are the “characters” in your family;
the odd, colorful, eccentric figures who stand out? Are you considered a character?
What do you see as strengths and
weaknesses in your family? How did they
affect you? What do you bring to the
gene pool?
Did your family have healthy “gears” to
express and allow sadness, differences?
Was your family good at celebrating?
Do you relate to your ancestors?
Did your family have a philosophy about
life that you were expected to adopt? How did that go? What favorite saying illustrates your
family’s philosophy of life?
Did you like your home, your home
life? Were there traditions that you
cherished and perpetuated?
Is there something about your family
that is unusual to you? Is there
something that you find absolutely fine but others think unusual?
What skeletons have you found in the
closets of your home?
Once you complete the 8 weeks of Guided Autobiography 101, there is the option to continue writing. The on-going class offers more freedom - less structure with themes and priming questions.
If you choose to work on a particular project, you can work independent of the themes but with the support of the class, sharing and receiving feedback.