If you have not entered my “I love reading” giveaway, you can still do it :-): You can win 2 books (up to a total of $30): one for you and one for a teenager or a child or a baby you want to share your love of books with.The giveaway is open to all countries that The Book Depository ships to. Just fill out the entry form by Friday March 16th.
Today is Road Trip Wednesday 🙂 RTW is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway’s contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.
This Week’s Topic
Name this life: What would your memoir be called?
I cry, I laugh, I smile, I yell. I make mistakes. I learn. I find it unfair sometimes but I’m grateful for all the hardships and all the joys because it brought me to where I am today. I love my life even if it’s not always easy. Looking back, I realize that sometimes the small decisions, the tiny steps turned out to become milestones. I don’t think I’ll write a memoir, but I do like to look back…So my title would be:
My life version of The Butterfly Effect
International life: As a child, I used to say that I would never leave home. I enjoyed the comfort of my place. Always a tad anxious, going to summer camps was not easy. My parents always pushed me. I am so grateful for them. Why? Because 10 years later, I decided it was time to see the big big world and to go to the United States. My parents once said to me: “We know we did a good job with you girls if you can leave us but are always happy to be back.” I am definitely always happy to go back home.
Funny how it works out: At the age of 11, I decided German was indeed quite an interesting language to learn. 9 years later, in the United States, I met a cocky boy who was surprised a French girl could speak German and English (yes he’s funny :-)). 19 years later, I live in Germany with a charming man I am lucky to call my husband (he’s still cocky).
Writing: My parents read to me at night. They encouraged my passion for books. My sisters read my first attempts at poetry, not mocking me but nodding along. My teachers gave me positive feedback when I was young on my imagination. My sisters, my brother-in-law and my high school friends didn’t cringe away from my drafts when I tried my hand at writing a novel. My husband trusts that I can do it. He tells me several times a week or a month or a day (depending how stressed I am). All those little moments encouraged me and are still with me today.
These are only little moments but I am just amazed by how those little moments help shape who I am today.
How would you call YOUR memoir?
Elodie Nowodazkij 
It is mind-blowing how the smallest of things sometimes turn out to have the greatest influence on a life.
Great blog!! I’ve sort of been through the opposite of you. Growing up, we couldn’t always explore new places, I’m grateful to have seen some since getting older and letting my children experience them. I plan to get out more. My parents did encourage reading though and my imagination has taken me to some fantastic places.
Oooh, nice title!
I was very similar to you as a child – I never wanted to leave home. Then, aged 9, I wanted to go on a school trip to France with my friends. Since then, travelling the world has been a lot of fun!
BUTTERFLY EFFECT–great title, and a great concept for a memoir. I didn’t explore this in my blog, but I think the title of my hypothetical memoir would only really be apparent after I’d finished it and could see a running theme. This is a great theme.
Very nice. I love the story about learning German and it leading you to your husband. International, indeed!
Oh I like it. Yes one thing can cause a ripple and effect everything around us. Haha on the cocky man that part made me giggle.
I’m the opposite – Ever since I can remember I’ve wanted to live in my own home haha. Not because I was miserable, I love my family and do miss living with them. I was just always so eager to be independent and starting an post-education life ^^
Love the part about learning German and how it led to your meeting your husband. I’m reading Anna and the French Kiss right now and it made me think of that.
I think a memoir of your life would be interesting to read. You seem to have led an exciting life 😀 I think anybody who speaks three languages fluently is worth reading about!
I agree with Jaime. Can you go ahead and write this please?
Your life definitely seems to have been much more exciting than mine! I think you have chosen the title to your memoir wisely and it would definitely catch my attention if I saw it in a bookstore.
If I were to write a memoir, which is highly unlikely, I’d probably call it ‘Daydreamer’. This was a term more than one of my teachers told my parents about my attitude in class, that they often caught me staring out the window in a world of my own. Who would have thought that my daydreaming would eventually begin to pay off? lol
First, I LOVE the title! Second: It’s amazing that little decisions we make can alter our futures in ways unseen. As always, great post my friend 🙂
Great post! Considering how far and wide you’ve traveled and the varying cultures you’ve experienced, you would have a GREAT basis for a memoir!!
That sounds like that would be a really interesting memoir. I think it’s beyond cool that you speak three languages and have lived in so many different countries. When I was in college I really wanted to live in France. I minored in French, though it’s fading after so many years of not a single person I knew speaking it—because Spanish seemed way more practical to them. Hmm. 🙂
Glad to see you have a good support system. When there’s so much rejection in the industry, it’s great to have people pulling for you!
That is such a great title! And I love your focus on the little things that make such a big impact. 🙂
Thanks everybody! 😀 I’m not sure my life has the makings for a great memoir 😉 but I really do enjoy looking back to see those little steps become major milestones!