I’m currently doing some research for an art project about lives as narratives.
I would like to hear from you if there is a moment in your life which may at the time have seemed entirely inconsequential, but which in hindsight you can see as a pivotal moment in the narrative of your life.
To give an example, here’s my story.
One night when I was 17, I had some friends over and my mother asked me to make sure i washed up the cups we were using before I went to bed. I forgot to do this, and the next day this sparked a huge argument between us. I moved out of home (albeit briefly), quit college and got a job. I often wonder how different my life could be now if I had just washed up 3 cups; all the people I may have met or not met, the relationships I may not have had, the places I have ended up.
So please, if you have a story like this, email it to me at pjcoulthard@googlemail.com or reply to this thread.
I was at the skate park one day, not skating, but rather hanging out and eventually (as so often happens when bored kids hang out somewhere that affords such opportunities as a skate park) doing stupid dangerous things. The climax of the day came when I was attempting to jump off of a roof over a 7’ fence to the ground, and I landed it… the first time. Of course I was stupid enough to think I might be able to land it better if I tried it again. The second time I attempted the stunt, however, my back foot caught on the top of the fence and I spun around the top pole of the fence, hitting the other side and falling to the ground, rupturing my spleen and spending the next 4 days in the hospital. Of course I was unable to skate for the next few months and couldn’t do a whole lot while I let myself recover.
I walked into a recruiter’s office one day when I was just shopping at a mall. Fast forward two years- spent a year in Iraq with mortars, bullets, and rockets flying at me, spent weeks in freezing cold forests and swamps shooting artillery rounds and jumping out of helicopters, visited most of Europe, Mideast, and the entire East Coast and South, met all sorts of amazing people from all over the world, went swimming with sharks and jellyfish in the persian gulf, climbed to the top of moutains and spent nights sleeping under humvees. I’m not happy about everything that has happened but I’m certain that if I had just gone straight to college I would have never experienced what it truly means to live a life of adventure.
When I was 15 my brother and I joined the the high school band together. Growing up we would hang out but never got along to well. That year, my brother gave me rides to our practices and spent time together at competitions. That year my brother and I became friends for the first time in our lives, he was so eager to introduce me to his friends and girlfriends, and enjoyed our trips around town and hanging out with me. We became very close that year, unfortunately he died in a car accident that December. I was very glad our last year together was so special, and that we finally bonded, if it were not for being in band together, I might not have had such a memorable last year with my only brother.