The Story of Your Life Six-Week Online Writing to Awaken Class

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The Story of Your Life Webpage Title Slide 2

The Story of Your Life:
Making Sense of the Past and Present
A Six-Week Online Writing to Awaken Class
January 19 – March 1, 2026

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Online Class Tuition: $447.00 USD

“The story of your life is a story, and we’re always rewriting it, whether you’re a writer or not.”

~ Margaret Atwood
Every life is a creative act, an improvisation from start to finish. We create meaning from our life experiences and then imbue them with value, shape, and purpose. The significance you give to what happens to you defines the story of your life.
In this new online writing class, you’ll focus on identifying and exploring your central life narrative, the story that lies hidden within your life situation. Situation and story are different, as Vivian Gornick notes, the former pointing to the circumstances of your existence, the latter on what your experiences mean to you — the sense you make of what life gives you. Whether you’re writing a memoir or using personal reflection as a path of insight, this new class can be of great benefit.

“Mark Matousek pulls no punches. His writing prompts provide a scalpel to help you dive into the depths of your life experience, to explore the question: Who am I?”

~ Roger Housden, author of Dropping the Struggle
As Homo Narrans, the storytelling ape, humans beings are sense-making animals first and foremost. Stories enable us to navigate through the world, interact with others, and form a solid-seeming identity, the character we call our self. Realizing that our stories are created, and can therefore be changed, is a vital step toward awakening and establishing an authentic life.

Class Objectives:

This course will help you:
~ Understand the trajectory of your life story
~ Locate areas of misalignment and inauthenticity
~ Grasp the difference between your situation and your story
~ Identify aspects of your story you’d like to change
~ Recognize how fear and desire impact your identity
~ Practice writing as a doorway to insight and growth

“Mark dared me to look into my own heart of darkness and to find hidden treasures. His techniques, lessons, and tactics gave me powerful weapons and precious jewels to have the courage to see the beauty in all the fragments of life and across dimensions of time.”

~ Amanda, USA
This interactive online format provides an excellent opportunity for self-inquiry — and honing your life-writing skills — in an atmosphere of mutual support and safety. Known for his insightful questions, Mark brings decades of experience to the topic of storytelling and self-inquiry as an award-winning memoir writer and author of Writing to Awaken: A Journey of Truth, Transformation, and Self-Discovery
Who will benefit from this course:
~ Memoirists honing the story they want to tell
~ Journal keepers exploring life dynamics
~ Seekers drawn to self-knowledge and insight
~ Lifelong learners on the path of personal growth

LESSON OVERVIEW

 

This course will deepen your understanding of what motivates you, and how your self-created story determines the quality of your life.

Week One: Making Meaning
You’ll begin by examining key life experiences and the meaning derived from them, the accuracy of this meaning, and the impacts of your story on how you live.
Week Two: The Story You’ve Chosen
In this second lesson, you’ll consider key aspects of your prevailing narrative — particularly family, relationships, vocation, sexuality, faith, geography — and how these elements shape your identity.
Week Three: Impacts of Story
This third lesson focuses on how story impacts self-esteem, personal perspective, and what you believe is true in your life.
Week Four: Problems and Conflicts
Next, you’ll explore what you would like to change in your story, the limitations, delusions, and beliefs that undermine your authenticity.
Week Five: Fear and Desire
This penultimate lesson invites you to take a deep look at the interplay of these universal emotions in your life, and how they affect your character.
Week Six: Becoming the Storyteller
Finally, you’ll consider your narrative through the eye of the witness, noticing what is revealed through expansive, objective awareness.

HOW THE ONLINE CLASS WORKS

In the week prior to the start of the class, you will receive an invitation to create an account on Mark’s website where the weekly lessons, written responses, and Mark’s feedback will be posted. This format allows the class to read, comment and support each other’s work in a positive and nurturing environment.
Each Monday, for the duration of the class, a new written lesson will be posted to the Online Class Group. Students post their responses to the Group by the following Saturday evening. Assignments should be no more than 1,000 words.
On Sunday and Monday, Mark responds to each submission in writing. His comments are focused on insight, authenticity of voice, and emotional honesty not writing technique, prose style, or grammar. His responses offer additional prompts for deeper exploration of the subject. Students who wish not to share with the group can send their work privately to Mark.
Three one hour group Zoom sessions are scheduled to provide an opportunity for students to ask questions and talk about the work. These sessions are recorded and posted to the Group the following day.
Zoom Session 1: Monday, January 26 at 6:00 p.m. Eastern
Zoom Session 2: Monday, February 9 at 6:00 p.m. Eastern
Zoom Session 2: Monday, February 23 at 6:00 p.m. Eastern
 

“What happened to [you] is not what matters; what matters is the large sense [you are] able to make of what happened.”

~ Vivian Gornick
These six powerful lessons will guide you to the authentic story hidden inside your life situation. You’ll see how this story shapes (and misshapes) your existence and helps you make sense of who you are. This is vital knowledge for memoir writers and seekers alike wishing to understand their character’s motivations, both on and off the written page.

Registration

Online Class Tuition: $447.00 USD

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TESTIMONIALS

“Mark is one of the most skilled, experienced, and knowledgeable teachers I’ve ever known. He creates a thoroughly safe environment and is one hundred percent  present with every participant. I left this workshop feeling transformed. Remarkable!”
~ David USA
“I cannot commend Mark Matousek enough to anyone who is serious about their healing and transformation. He is profoundly wise and insightful and you feel at once confident that you have finally found a path that will lead you home to the fullness of who you really are.”
~ Sheryl, New Zealand
“Simply put –- if you’re looking to make a change, reach beyond your comfort zone and see the world and your life through fresh eyes – take a seminar with Mark Matousek who is a truly great teacher as well as a great writer.”
~ Mary Jo, USA
“Brace yourself if you work with Mark! You might have to leave your comfort zone and learn more about yourself than you had expected. The assignments are like roadmaps leading you to where you need to go. And then, when you have worked through them and you think you have come up with all the wisdom you were able to find deep within yourself, Mark will come up with more questions for you in his response and you will get to dig even deeper. I think this is the greatest gift Mark offers. He LISTENS. I mean, he really listens. And he gets is. He knows just when and how to ask the questions that will crack you open!”
~ Saskia, Germany

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