Personal theme reveals my three-word memoir

I was intrigued this week when I saw a twitter feed about three-word memoirs. People were reflecting on 2011 and summing it up in three words. It made me think about what I would write for my own miniature memoir.

That, in turn, reminded me of my personal theme for 2011 — one that I chose last year for myself to represent progress and to reinforce my pursuit of learning and creativity.

As it happens in life, I experienced some fairly negative and toxic events in 2010. I thought about my response and decided I could build a more creative legacy of what I aim to accomplish as a writer, friend, daughter, and spouse if I focused on the positive.

“What if,” is an excellent phrase to ask if you’re writing a story and want to figure out what will happen next. Not so much though if you want to avoid being stuck in the residue of the past. I believe more than ever that the value of looking back is to see how we can learn from mistakes, heartache, and loss. And then move on.

At the end of 2010, searching for a positive path, two words sprang into my mind: “Move Forward.”  Move Forward became my mantra and theme for 2011. I wrote the words on a Post it note and stuck it on my bathroom mirror. Whenever I caught myself dwelling on past misfortune, I repeated the words. I wrote the words on a note and stuck it on my computer monitor. If I woke up feeling despair, I repeated the words. I wrote the words in my commonplace book. If I felt a wave of sadness, my theme was the rudder that restored my course.

So for me, my three-word memoir for last year is, “I moved forward.”

In 2012, I’m going to continue my quest to move forward. As for my writing theme, it ties into the idea of progress too.

Looking back on your past year or two, what words represent your three-word memoir?