I opened one of my uni notebooks yesterday and chuckled loudly. In November last year, a couple of months into my doctoral program, I had come across a narrative exercise which asks you to think about your life in terms of chapters and what they would be called. I found it quite a fun thing to do, and it helps you narrate your life on your terms. You could do it for any big events in your life – parenting, relationships, studying, career changes or even just naming the year you’ve had. In particular, this exercise was looking at jobs – this is what I wrote:
| Age | Job | Chapter Title |
| 16 | Pub DJ (it was the 90s…) | Play David Essex for me… |
| 17 | Telesales | Hidin’ in the Booth |
| 18-20 | Customer Service Operator | The Toilet Button and Other Tales of Woe |
| 21 – 24 | Detached Youth Worker | Wandering the Streets |
| 22 – 26 | Drop-in Worker | Condoms, Chlamydia & Conservative Christians |
| 27-30 | Charity Management | I really like Spreadsheets, no really I do |
| 30 – 31 | Charity Management | Life on a Dot in the Middle of the Ocean |
| 31 – 32 | Sexual health outreach worker | Trundling with the Trolley |
| 33 – 42 | International School Counsellor | Repeat after me: Thoughts are not Facts! |
| 42 – 44 | Business Owner | Stop trying to kill me, Thailand… |
I had to chuckle after the last one. I had no idea that this year I would survive ovarian cancer while still here in Thailand. Maybe I jinxed myself by calling this chapter that!
Do you think this could be an interesting exercise for you to do? Let me know how it goes, and I wish you call a lovely 2015.
Aylssa Temple 