"Wisdom springs from life experience well digested," Erik Erikson once noted. All too often we are so busy that we don't take time to savor our experiences and let them simmer in our consciousness. At least once a decade, we should stop and take a look back at what has happened to us. Or as Jean-Paul Sartre put it: "There is a magic in recollection, a magic that one feels at every age. . . . In remembering we seem to attain that impossible synthesis . . . that life yearns for."

Here is an assemblage of cards, directions, quotes, and questions to help you capture those elusive memories of your past The Autobiography Box by Brian Bouldrey, a widely published essayist and the author of five novels, contains a 160-page paperback book with journal spaces and 60 cards (Remember, Discover, Dramatize, and Structure) designed to serve as catalysts for your private trip down memory lane. The cards will spur your self-discovery and encourage you to put your rambles through time on paper. Bouldrey has included excerpts from Vladimir Nabokov, Marcel Proust, Gore Vidal, and Jill Ker Conway as further inspirational prods.