“It Ain’t Over ’til it’s Over.”~Yogi Berra

Smith Magazine wants to know, can you sum up your life in six words? Easier said than done, right? If you had to pick six words to totally, utterly, and completely describe your life so far, what would they be? Perhaps six single, strong, well thought out words, all epitomizing one of your special attributes. Perhaps a witty phrase you know. Or maybe a metaphor, something that seems so simple but truly goes deeper—possibly even deeper than the reader can think to go. It might be a confession, a release, or a joyous exclamation.

All of this talk came from the recent release of the book It All Happened in an Instant, a collection of six word memoirs written by famous writers…and others. This is a follow-up book to the original Not Quite What I Was Planning. These books hardly innovated six-word memoirs (the short and sweet at least). Inspiration Ernest Hemingway wrote his memoir as this: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Here is a sample of a few others that can be found in the book:

Told you I’d be published someday!—Kacie Adams

Insomniac dreamer: a thousand times goodnight.—Elisa Shevitz

I picked passion. Now I’m poor.—Kathleen E. Whitlock

So would you believe me anyway?—James Frey

Found on Craigslist: table, apartment, fiancé.—Becki Lee

After cancer, I became semi-colon.—Anthony R. Cardno

Acting is not all I am.—Molly Ringwald

Shirt: souvenier. Shoes: Walmart. Soul: PRADA.—Astrid Muller

Normal person becomes psychotic on Twitter.—Robin Slick

Alzheimer’s: meeting new people everyday.—Phil Skversky

Yale at 16, downhill from there.—Anita Kawatra

Black in America and loving it.—David Cummings (author notes that this was written before Obama was elected)

Full circle: morgue tech becomes obstetrician.—Andrea Skorenski

It ain’t over til it’s over.—Yogi Berra

**So I want to know, what are your six-word memoirs?? Comment below!**

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