Ernest Hemingway's response when challenged to write a full story in only six words:
"For sale: baby shoes, never worn."
I realize that is a horribly dismal story. It encapsulates the perfect proportions of brevity, ambiguity, and - somehow - certainty.
It got me thinking though - it's the simplest things that make us think most deeply. And since I consider each man the author of the story that is his life, what better way to meditate on one's existence than to simplify it to six words, with no limitations as to meaning, complexity, or context?
I'm very introspective, so I thought this would be a good exercise to dig into my mind and elicit what is most important to me, that I would want to include it in my six words. I wanted to discover where my true priorities, joys, and fears lie, and if I could be honest enough with myself in choosing my six words.
Here is what I came up with - how I think of my life in six words:
"only I can sing my song"
NPR took contributions from listeners/viewers back in 2008 - here were some that stood out to me:
-Georgene Nunn
"No future, no past. Not lost."
-Matt Brensilver
"The psychic said I'd be richer."
-Elizabeth Bernstein
"70 years, few tears, hairy ears."
-Bill Querengesser
"After Harvard, had baby with crackhead."
-Robin Templeton
"Painful nerd kid, happy nerd adult."
-Linda Williamson
"Extremely responsible, secretly longed for spontaneity."
-Sabra Jennings
