About When We Were Seven
When We Were Seven is a creative exploration of remembering being seven years old. True stories of being age 7. Fictional characters who are age 7. Contemplations about what being 7 years old was like for the characters and people that make up our history and culture.
Here you’ll find short reads about being age 7—as found in essays, novels, memoir, short stories, blogs, podcasts, movies, songs and history (just about anywhere). I’ll include links to everything so you can read more, support the artists, and perhaps loosen some of your own memories of being age 7.
Why age 7?
I attributed nearly every childhood memory to when I was seven years old despite it being demonstrably false, and I wanted to know why. What was the gravitational pull of age 7 that trapped all my memories there? Once I started paying attention, I saw age 7 everywhere: essays, TV shows, books, podcasts, and, of course, in many memoirs. It shouldn’t be surprising; anyone who has made it to adulthood has been seven-years-old.
“Childhood is where we live; adulthood is where we make sense of it.” ~ Todd Brewster
We don’t control how memories are recorded or revised while we’re busy growing up. The first draft of childhood is written by someone with limited life experience and no context of their place in the story. It is only in adulthood where we can choose to study, translate, and share the story—often to the benefit of our younger selves.
Why subscribe?
When something is free, the term subscribe seems misplaced. Someday there may be a version of When We Were Seven with a paid-subscription content level. Today is not that day.
7 Reasons to Subscribe
Only 1 email a month. An email drip rather than a fire hose.
I own the email list, not Substack, so your email won’t be sold.
If any one platform dies (or is taken hostage by billionaire demons), we don’t lose each other.
No hunting for links in bios. Just click and read.
Inspiration for writing about childhood, age 7 or otherwise.
Fun trips to the nostalgia of pop culture, TV, movies across the generations.
I appreciate the support and encouragement to keep experimenting with this project.
Who am I?
I’m Jen Machajewski—a writer, wife, mother, and sibling managing this life through writing and playful obsessions. I’m particularly fascinated by flash and it’s connection to the way memory works. I write memoir, short fiction, and personal essays. My writer substack, my instagram, and my website.
Will you endlessly reference the number seven?
Yes, yes I will.
Notes
This publication is not for seven-year-olds and is not about current seven-year-olds. It is for anyone a decade removed or more.
Todd Brewster Quote: What is An American Childhood? A photographic study
