Six Word Memoirs on Life Stories

Steve__Anthony says,

Sometimes you are so brilliant.

BanjoDan says,

i second that!

Bevvie says,

Thanks, Steve. There is a thin line between depression and brilliant, and I tend to be on the depressed side right now.

Bevvie says,

Oh, thanks Dan.

Bevvie says,

You guys are brilliant. I'm just feeling Sylvia crazy right now!

Steve__Anthony says,

Just the thought of The Bell Jar depresses me. Brilliantly written ".. I am. I am. I am." Good luck. And please don't forget to count your blessings. :o) Steve

Bevvie says,

Thanks again, Steve! I appreciate your thoughtfulness!

Steve__Anthony says,

This memoir is also a brilliant visual metaphor.

Steve__Anthony says,

Having read The Bell Jar twenty years ago, I am now reminded by how we as humans have the capability to glue, tape and silly putty ourselves together day in and day out even in the face of my own adversities. Life is a lonely path to walk (alone and with others) and sometimes, some days all it takes is for us to stop on the path and pause to breath, look around all our blessings, smell the roses and be thankful life's tender mercies. With that said, I don't believe for a second this type of resolve or solution works for anyone. I know a lot of wonderful people, even within my family that struggles, fights and sleeps with depression every day. It breaks my heart in a 1000 little pieces to know that this is the hand that fate has dealt them.

Bevvie says,

Steve, your comment is so accurate and insightful! I can't remember when or why I first read The Bell Jar, but later I assigned the novel in my American Lit class! So, I have read the book over and over. (might be time to read it again.) Plath's metaphor is so accurate. It does feel like being under a bell jar when depressed or upset, and sometimes it lifts and life is better, but the bell jar can drop over you again at any moment!

e.towhee says,

I have always preferred reading Anne Sexton to reading Sylvia Plath. Although Anne Sexton committed suicide too, I have found in some of her poems a sense of humor that I cannot remember finding in Sylvia Plath's writings.

Bevvie says,

Of course they knew each other. In my lit classes I assigned a Sexton poem about Sylvia Plath, "Sylvia's Death." It always made for an interesting discussion of the two poets!

jebcrg says,

Just wanted to chime in to say Kudos to you Bevvie. You are clearly on a creative roll though I am sorry it is being fueled by a black cloud. May your bell jar be lifted swiftly.

Steve__Anthony says,

I can only think of two occasions where I had to "deal" with my own depression: when my father passed and several years earlier when an ex-girlfriend (that loved deeper than I could love)cheated on me and then moved in with the guy in an apartment a hundred feet away. Both situations cut me to ribbons. Couldn't eat, sleep or focus on nothing but my own misery. Each time I lost 30 pounds over the next six months. It sucked the life out of me. My ex-girlfriend's infidelity was the start of a seven-year downward spiral for me. Where rarely dated, left a brilliant career track and lost a partof my soul. But somehow managed to piece myself back together.
But enough about me.
I totally realize that this is not the type of depression so many people are married to. But your six words memoir and the use of the Plath metaphor is a brilliant metaphor inside a metaphor. It might be one of the most powerful memoirs to every bless this site. In a word it is "profound."

Bevvie says,

Thank you, jebcrg, for your kind words! I hope the bell jar lifts permanently! The writing and kind concern from others help a lot!

Bevvie says,

Steve, I am so sorry that you had those two experiences. Glad to know that they are in the past and that you have moved forward despite them.

And again, thanks for the kind comments about the memoir!

lillybrook says,

Thanks for the memoir -- there is SO MUCH in this 6 words. Much like Plath herself, you've alluded to something significant to say something significant.

So neat to hear that you've taught The Bell Jar in an AmLit class; I've brought her poetry in mine and have considered teaching The Bell Jar in a Gender in Literature elective I teach.

Bevvie says,

Thank you for comment, K822. Always glad to share Plath experiences with others who like and/or have taught her work.

columbina says,

I love Sylvia Plath's writing. (And it's great that Anne Sexton has been brought up, too!) As much as I enjoyed the first part of The Bell Jar, I hated the ending. I know that Plath committed suicide, but the way her character just "gets better" after such a dark, tragic struggle...it's anticlimactic. Still, this is beside the point. Your memoir is one of those that I wish I had thought of first. :) Excellent use of the words.

Bevvie says,

Thanks, columbina. Always good to meet others who love Plath and Sexton. I am new to Sexton, so I'm just getting into her work! I understand that wish that I had thought of a particular memoir first! There are so many good ones at Smithmag. :-)