Philadelphia is the birthplace of our Constitution. A visit there is inspiring. One can see our monetary system in action, the Liberty Bell, and walk the halls of those who wrote and signed the Constitution.

But the museum that left the most lasting impression on me was an unassuming place called the Independence Living History Center. Inside the main part of the museum, artifacts unearthed at National Constitution were arranged on numerous tables for scientists to sift through. These artifacts represented small clues into the lives of everyday folks who lived during this great time in American history.

I wondered what the archaeologists were doing. A caretaker told me that history books aren't written about everyday people. There written about the Benjamin Franklins and the Thomas Jeffersons of the World. We have to put the rest of the stories together with whatever clues we can find.

History reconstructed from garbage?

Did you know that the artifacts the archaeologists were sifting were trash? Garbage? I hate to think what my out-of-context garbage says about me.

Facing reality...

Probably nobody will write a book about me. Probably not about you, either. I don't like to think that two hundred years from now, some historian will try to recreate a generalized concept of how I lived based on a few dirty garbage items recovered at the local landfill. Do you?

Your Life Is Worth Preserving!

Your life is a story. It's worth telling, preserving, and passing on.

Writing your autobiography is daunting. It's especially tough to do it on your own.

Be Brave

Just start writing.

Ideas will come to you.

Tell your own story! Don't leave it to someone else.

Robert Brady

As you begin creating your autobiography, make sure to get assistance from Robert Brady's site on Writing an Autobiography and the characteristics of an autobiography.
You can get a unique content version of this article. http://autobiographyworkshop.wordpress.com/2007/07/20/autobiography-characteristics/