If
you were looking for your own life story in a bookstore, what section would you
go to first?

If
you are stumped for an answer, think about a movie or a story that struck a
chord in you. It might be a fairy tale from childhood, or something from
mythology. It might be tragedy or comedy, an epic saga or a family sitcom.

Check
whether this remembered tale may be about you and the life you are living now
or in your imagination, or both.

Now:
picture yourself in a bookstore or library or browsing Netflix. Where would you
go to look for your story. Fiction or nonfiction, or something in the
borderland between them, like Visionary Narrative?

Romance? Self-improvement? Fantasy? Biography?
Adventure? Folklore?

Maybe you need to invent a genre for what your
story contains. Or make a composite, like those recommended categories that
turn up on Netflix: “Mind-Bending Foreign Drama with Strong Female Lead.” “Military
20^th Century Period Piece.” “Dark Fight-the-System Movies Based on
Real Life.” (Come to think of it, I might file parts of my life story in each
of those categories).

In my workshops, I often have people spend
five minutes sketching out a quick version of their life stories so that can
see more clearly what section or sections they belong in.

Here are some genres invented or selected by
members of my creative workshops and online dreamwork courses:

Hot Fiction

Cosmic Westerns

Romantic Science

Mainstream Occult

Black Comedy

Coffee Table Picture Books

Time Travel

Ancient
Mysteries

Past
Life Travels

Fairytale Erotica

and (from someone who has just
completed their first book)

Bestsellers

My
personal favorites?

True
Fantasy

Soul
Biography

Multidimensional
Travel

Ready to play? Picture yourself in that bookstore, on scanning that Netflix screen, and choose the category for your life story. You can pick up to three. Then post your selections on the Comments thread here. You may inspire others to expand their notions about what kind of story they are living.

Astral Lovers by Nicola Daniels