Creative Writing ‘creating the me I want to be’

...I was reading an article written by Viki Wilson in psychologies magazine and it hit me between the eyes, narrative! There was a story about a lady having been made redundant and how at her leaving drink her manager was describing her as someone she barely knew! She had lost her self-awareness, her self-identity; a mother, hard-working colleague, wife. Now at a transition point in life she decided to re-invent herself, find herself again, her values, interests. The article discusses - The art of re-invention; much more than skin deep, or a new wardrobe, but an essential life skill! The focus is on defining your brand or core values, your fingerprint, working out who you are in relation to the rest of the world. It then occurred to me, that in reflection this was about personal constructs and how we exist in our world (existentialism). ‘Once the brand is established, it becomes easier to see what action you might take whether re-discovering an old passion or moving to the other side of the world to take up a new career’ (Vicki Watson). The article continues to describe the rules of re-invention; create a clear brand, have a story, know your product, know your audience; how this is achieved is through narrative, creative writing, listing and reflecting to aid decision making > try it out!

Create a brand

1. Dividing a piece of paper up into sections; work, family, health, spirituality, creativity, love, friends
2. Write as many words down in each section in 1 minute which describes how you see yourself in relation to those categories
3. Think about the words which make you feel proud, frustrated, surprised
4. Select 4 or 5 that you would most like to define you

Define your story

1. Create a timeline listing significant choices, choose 2 and decide if you were in control of making the decision and what was the impact, positive or negative
2. What would have been the outcome if you had made a different choice
3. Describe the self you left behind
4. How do you feel about that self; relieved that you are not that person or do you envy the person you could have been
5. Think about a current decision you are considering
6. Try mapping out different futures based on consequences of different choices; thus constructing a narrative!

Know your product, psychologist Timothy Butler suggests we now consider achievements as they are a measure of what we contribute to the world and what we value in ourselves, achievement is the product we sell.

1. Over the last twelve months what have you done that made you feel strongly, ‘really done something’
2. Imagine 1 year forward at the end of the next twelve months, what would make you feel you had done real work and made a genuine contribution

Know your audience, understanding the impact other people have on the decisions we make. Timothy Butler calls them stakeholders, you are never alone in a room when making a decision

1. Make a list of stakeholders in the decision you are facing
2. What is the tone you hear when they speak to you
3. For each stakeholder, what was their life dream
4. How did they realise it, or did they fail to achieve it
5. How do they see your strengths and weaknesses
6. What do you sense is important for them that they’ve never admitted

. . . It is important that we take responsibility for our own decision making in-line with our core values, awareness and beliefs, our self-identity and goals.