We are all tied to one another - ourselves and those who came before us. We were ourselves, but others too; our past written on us like lines drawn on a palimpset, or the artist's rough sketch beneath the surface of a painting." from The Charming Quirks of Others, by Alexander McCall Smith.

I have always been fascinated by origins - how do we become the people we are? Not just our hair color, or height, or ability to play an instrument. But our character and personality. What makes one person quiet and shy, and another boisterous and outgoing? Why is one person prone to anger, born with the proverbial chip of their shoulder, and another calm and accepting of the world and its inhabitants?

"We are all tied to one another - ourselves and those that came before us." The seeds of who we are today begin growing in the past, generations of personalities and genetics combining in each human being.

Think about people in your past and write about the ways they've influenced who you are today. These people are your true Starting Places.