Wouldn't it be nice if we could go back in life to experience things twice? Would we choose to repeat only the happy times, or would we also repeat the difficult times we lived through in order to understand and learn from what occurred?
That, of course, is an individual choice. We're all different people and would look at the possibility of feeling a few things twice in different ways.
If you write short memoir pieces (or even a full book) and family stories, you are going back to experience things one more time. It's one very good reason to write in this genre.
You can write about the simple things that made you happy. Sitting on a porch swing on a summer day reading a book. Swimming at the city pool with your best friends. Attending a theater production with your mom. Getting the dress of your dreams as a surprise gift. Walking through a meadow of wildflowers in sunshine and gentle breezes. Holiday visits to your grandparents' farm. Having your dad read a bedtime story. Winning a special award in high school or college. All of these are worth reliving by writing about them.
What about the not so good happenings? Getting the only D you ever had on a Math test. Breaking up with your steady girl. Being totally embarrassed when the wind blew your skirt and everyone laughed. Your parents getting divorced. The loss of a good friend. Not making it into the fraternity you wanted. Not getting to go on a trip you had your heart set on. These things were hurtful, but writing about them now could help you see new facets of whatever happened.
By writing about the good and the bad, you not only relive it, but you can allow your family to see what happened and the way you felt then and now. It can help them understand you and also learn from your experience.
Yes, reliving memories of both happy and sad times is worthwhile. You can see what happened at 25 with new eyes at the age of 60. Or even a 25-year-old looking back at an event they experienced at age 5.
Many contests have memoir categories to enter. In fact, often the greatest number of entries will be memoir. Why? I think that people are interested in their roots, their family history, and want to tell others about it.
If you've never written a short memoir piece or a family story, there's no time like the present to do so.
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