The History of You (Plus, A Blog Announcement!)

Hi! Beth here with the final installment of this whole Picture Prompt, History Series idea. This week, it’s going to get personal. This week, I’m not going to give you a picture to inspire some writing. This week, I’m going to ask you to go find a picture. But not just any picture.

This week, I’m going to ask you to go find an old picture of yourself.

It doesn’t matter when this picture was taken—it could be a childhood photo, taken way back on the first day of fifth grade when you were so excited to be carrying your new unicorn backpack full of a fresh Trapper-Keeper and magnetic pencils. It could be a photo from two years ago, before you cut off all your hair. It could be a photo from last week, when you were brave enough to capture a selfie on a sunny Saturday.

It just needs to be a photo of you in the past. Distant or near. The timing doesn’t matter. What matters is that this image is a reflection of some way you used to be. The history of you, so to speak.

Study this picture. Really look at it. The lighting, the background, the tiny details that might have escaped your glance before.

Then, ask yourself these three questions:

1)     Who is the person in this picture?

2)     Knowing now what I didn’t know then, what would I say to this person? This past version of me?

3)     What is one wonderful thing about the person you see in this picture?

As always, how you respond to these prompts is up to you. You could set aside 30 minutes to reflect in your journal. You could share your photo with someone you love and tell them what you see. You could sit in silence and simply think. You could tell God what you know.

My Take:

1) The person in this photo is someone who is very ready for the change ahead of her but is also terrified of that change. She is not thinking of everything she is leaving behind. She is focused on the day ahead of her. The belongings that need to be packed up. The number of hours in which to do the packing. This is a practical response. Realistic. The girl in this picture doesn’t like her hair. She’s hoping that the light rain falling doesn’t turn into a downpour. And man, she’s thinking that this chair needs to be reupholstered as soon as possible.

2) Maybe I would say: Stop being so practical. You don’t yet know the gravity of what you’re doing. Stop and say goodbye to the house. It will live in your mind for months to come. You will feel, at times, like you could simply take a drive over the Divide, down into that valley you know like the palm of your hand, and unlock the door to that house. Drop your bags on the floor. Look through the mail that arrived while you were away. But you are not leaving on vacation. You are leaving for good. Slow down. Look around. Say thank you.

And yet, I would also say: Practicality can guard the heart. There is always a worthwhile job to be done. A goodbye like this cannot be finished in a single day. You will say goodbye in pieces. Layer by layer you will let go of that corner of your heart. It is okay to be here now.

3) Here is a wonderful thing about the girl in this picture: She is very brave. (She just doesn’t know it yet.)

How did this week’s prompt go for you? Anything you’d like to share? Leave a comment below—I’d love to hear from you.

The Announcement!

The next post of The Small Soul Blog is going to look a little different. For a long time now, I’ve been trying to figure out the next right path for this small blog, and I think I may have stumbled on a way forward. The next version of the blog is going to focus on one major theme: Self-Discovery. When I get to thinking about it, that’s really what The Small Soul Blog has been about all along.

It occurs to me that many of us may be feeling a bit like we are beginning all over again right now. It occurs to me that many of us may feel a little (or a lot) lost. So, The Small Soul Blog is going to focus more carefully on self-discovery. On helping us feel a little more found. 

I’ll still be posing questions with each post, and I’ll be sharing my answers. I’ll also be offering recommendations for books, products, lifestyle hacks, podcasts, recipes, writing tips, etc. Basically, things that are bringing me joy along this path of self-discovery. Finally, in each post I’ll bring you a bit of history—a small fact or story about a person who did the brave work of becoming more of who they truly were. (Also – I will still offer creative writing prompts a couple times each month!) It is my honest hope that through The Small Soul Blog, I can offer some simple ways we can go about becoming more of who we truly are—you and me both—one small step at a time.

Thanks for reading.

-Beth