Summary

The website content is an autobiographical account divided into 44 brief chapters, each summarized in six words.

Abstract

The website content is a life story told in 44 brief chapters, with each chapter summarized in six words. The account begins with a childhood experience of pain from reaching for a cactus, followed by a series of events that shaped the author's life, such as watching Live Aid, dealing with bullies, becoming vegetarian despite provocation, and trying to fit in. The story continues with the author's experiences in education, including school, English Prize, A-levels, and a degree, and their subsequent teaching career. The author describes the challenges of teaching, including curriculum, testing, children, parents, testing, Ofsted, and marking, and how it became all-consuming. The author reflects on their chronic stress and the need for a new start, which led them to pursue a PhD, but also resulted in another breakdown. The author reflects on their relationship with their father, who died after 23 years of estrangement. The author commits to recovery and begins to write and work again, ending with the reflection that they might forgive themselves.

Opinions

The author shares their personal experiences and reflects on their life in brief, six-word chapters.
The author describes the challenges of their teaching career and the toll it took on their mental health.
The author reflects on their estranged relationship with their father and their commitment to recovery after his death.
The author uses the six-word chapter format to convey the emotions and experiences of their life in a concise and impactful way.
The author's use of six-word chapters highlights the importance of brevity and precision in storytelling.
The author reflects on their life and shares their experiences with vulnerability and honesty.

A Life in Six Word Chapters

But is it any less painful this way?

Author photo. One of seven photos left from this era.

Part the First

Reach from cot for cactus. Pain.

Part the Second

Lino. Underfloor heating. Jaws lies beneath.

Part the Third

Live Aid! Too much television. VHS.

Part the Fourth

Five of us now. So alone.

Part the Fifth

Bullies. Bag upended. Burger in face.

Part the Sixth

Still somehow vegetarian despite the provocation.

Part the Seventh

Do not be different round here.

Part the Eighth

Daring to be different equals isolation.

Part the Ninth

Daring to be different. Left alone.

Part the Tenth

Hammer Horror. Television. VHS. Late nights.

Part the Eleventh

“Dad” works nights. I don’t sleep.

Part the Twelfth

Drunk, she sleeps on the sofa.

Part the Thirteenth

“Ill”, although Mr Dalton doesn’t believe.

Part the Sixteenth

Off school. “Dad” off the premises.

Part the Seventeenth

School ends. English Prize. Normal again?

Part the Eighteenth

A-levels. New friends. New me. Mike.

Part the Nineteenth

Degree. New friends. New me. Mike.

Part the Twentieth

And just like that — they’re gone.

Part the Twenty-First

New family. New problems. New opportunities.

Part the Twenty-Second

Opportunities narrow. Teaching beckons. Becomes everything.

Part the Twenty-Third

Curriculum. Testing. Children. Parents. Nothing more.

Part the Twenty-Fourth

Residential. Testing. Ofsted. Marking. Nothing more.

Part the Twenty-Fifth

What was the theatre degree for?

Part the Twenty-Sixth

Chronic stress is…not yet recognised.

Part the Twenty-Seventh

Need to get away. New start.

Part the Twenty-Eighth.

And yet I brought myself along.

Part the Twenty-Ninth

Meet the new life. Same as…

Part the Thirtieth

So now I need the PhD.

Part the Thirty-First

First breakdown at 13. Another beckons.

Part the Thirty-Second

I did not see it coming.

Part the Thirty-Third

PhD. Once, I had a family.

Part the Thirty-Fourth

Not yet non-contact. But no different.

Part the Thirty-Fifth

Job. PhD. Stress. Ducks in row.

Part the Thirty-Sixth

Breakdown or another new life? Choose.

Part the Thirty-Seventh

No choice. Both. Nearly the end.

Part the Thirty-Eighth

23 years on, my “father” dies.

Part the Fortieth

After the worst, commit to recovery.

Part the Forty-First

It is possible to write again.

Part the Forty-Second

It is possible to work again.

Part the Forty-Third

I might yet forgive myself. Maybe.

Part the Forty-Fourth

And again, I grasp the cactus.

Thanks to the magnificent KiKi Walter for the Six Word Story prompt. If you’d like to read a little more, without the six word restriction, I’d suggest the time my family tried to be Self Sufficient.