Where have i come from?
Why am i here?
What makes me an individual?
What is my context?
How can i make use of this in my practice?
Using timelines to trace your place in the wider context of your world can be a useful way of reflecting on who you are. Tracing the moments of your life that have made you who you are...the birth of a sibling, the death of a family member, your first crush, first scary moment, first time away from home, first kiss...and mapping these against the events that were happening in the wider world can lead to exciting potential stories being created. These stories are based on you, and your exerience so potentially they have originality, resonance and integrity.
Using this opportunity to create your timeline might be painful, uncovering memories best left buried, remembering lost loves and missed opportunities...but to put ourselves in context can also be enlightening.
On creating my timeline I had to work hard to remember significant events. My timeline wasn't chronologically correct and i couldn't work from the 'beginning' until 'now'. It was easier to work backwards in some places...and there were whole pockets of memories that had been simply erased, and others that were overflowing! Interestingly, the most vivd memories were the ones that i have photographic evidence of, which made me wonder whether i was remembering the event at all, or merely remembering the photograph!
One thing that came through my timeline was how I had a musical soundtrack to my life! Events were inextricably linked to tunes...sitting outside HMV in Churchill Square in my goth days, being in love with David Bowie to the point of obsession, buying Parallel Lines (on vinyl!), going to that party when I got drunk on cheap cider and had my winkle-picker clad size 4 foot run over by a car outside the railway station... the parties and the memories blur but i can hear the soundtrack, and almost feel being a 'teenager' again.
So...
1. think through your life...tease out some memories and chart these in some way
2. add some socio-political context (events, images, videos)
3. add some media context - what were you watching? what music was playing in your life? what were you reading?
4. add some photos from your own 'archive'...
5. keep this working document in a place where you can add to it, and use it as an origination point for future writing projects.
6. Think creatively and enjoy!
