Writing My Life Story: An Introductory Course to Writing Life Stories
Wednesday mornings
November 5th to December 10th, 2025
9:30 am - Noon (PST)
Cost: $180CDN
This workshop for older women, offers five introductory themes to writing your life stories. Our lives are so rich in experiences that it can be difficult to know where to start. These themes provide focus and nudge memories. The themes are a reminder that our lives are not composed of a single thread but rather a woven tapestry of events, relationships and experiences.
What You Can Expect
The group setting gives structure for your writing and an opportunity to connect with other women rowing north.
Each week you will be introduced to a theme accompanied by poetry, quotes, and conversation to trigger memories and spark creativity. Optional at-home activities, are also offered.
At home you will write a two-page, 800 - 1,000 word life story. The discipline of editing two pages helps you think about which details are most essential to telling your story. This provides your story with focus and clarity, both in writing, and in the way you think about your life.
You will read your story the following week in a small, safe group. No critique; only encouragement and support.
Themes
Branching Points
The burden of regret is that, unless we come to understand the value of the choices we made in the past, we may fail to see the gifts they have brought us.
—Joan Chittister
A Home for the Heart
A home is not simply a building; it is the shelter around the intimacy of a life.
—John O’Donohue
A Sense of Belonging
We are sustained by friendship, spiritual nurture, and a sense of belonging throughout our lives.
—Charlotte Kasl
Phenomenal Woman
Who is the woman staring back at us from the mirror as the decades roll by?
—Grace Paley
On the Brink of Everything
Welcome to the brink of everything. It takes a lifetime to get here, but the stunning view of past, present, and future - and the bracing breeze in your face - make it worth the trip.
—Parker J. Palmer
“Writing brought a new kind of light into my life. It was the light of living life twice, once in real time and once in reflective time. It allowed me to grow into my true self. Writing gave me an intellectually challenging life in which I could still live quietly in my own home.”
