Watch together
A discussion guide for The Life That Taught You What to Want
A free guide for watching the video together with friends, a book club or a women's group, and talking about it afterwards. Everything you need is on this page, and it prints neatly for the evening.
How do you know what you truly want when the life you have built has helped shape what you want?
A suggested evening
- Settle in10 minutes
Read the central question aloud. Each woman may say in a sentence what drew her to it.
- Watch togetherthe length of the video
Watch in one sitting, or pause between chapters if the room wants to talk.
- Talk about the story20 to 30 minutes
Begin with Lady Slane. Talking about a character first makes it easier to talk about ourselves later.
- Talk about the ideas30 minutes
Choose two or three of the questions to carry. There is no need to answer them all.
- Close10 minutes
Read the final question aloud. Anyone may answer, or simply listen.
Questions about the story
Lady Slane's children were sure they knew what their mother wanted. What did a lifetime of watching her tell them, and what did it miss?
FitzGeorge sees the painter she never became. What does he understand about her, and what can he not know?
After nearly seventy years together, Lady Slane has never heard Genoux's story. How can a familiar role hide a whole history?
The younger Deborah wants music, not painting. What did her great-grandmother's decision give her, and what was already her own?
Questions to carry
From the Companion Workbook.
Which earlier aim still serves me, and which deserves a fresh reason?
Workbook p. 6What do I value now that I learned to value only by living it?
Workbook p. 10Which reason is actually doing the work in this decision?
Workbook p. 13Which reason concerns what I cannot recover, and which concerns what remains valuable?
Workbook p. 20Can I describe the cost without erasing the value, or the value without denying the cost?
Workbook p. 23What can I responsibly learn beforehand, and what would experience itself have to teach?
Workbook p. 26What do I directly know about another person’s options, and what have I merely assumed?
Workbook p. 30
The final question
What can I now say more precisely, even if I choose not to change anything?
To go further on your own
Explore how experience shapes desire, why an unlived life cannot be judged with certainty, and how to examine what remains valuable without dismissing your past.
Explore the Companion WorkbookThe Wisdom Women Library · https://wisdomwomenlibrary.com/questions/the-life-that-taught-you-what-to-want/circle/