The "Your Life is Your Story" Blog

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March 9, 2010

Storytellers in Santa Fe

I was in Santa Fe over the weekend. The "City Different" (as it is known to many of us) has been celebrating 400 years. On Sunday I happened to pick up a copy of the local newspaper, The Santa fe New Mexican, and discovered a front-page story about a diverse group who share stories of Santa Fe in a face to face manner. Among them are longtime storytellers Nasario Garcia, Mary Ellen Gonzales, Eva Torees Aschenbrener and Joe Hayes.

The article made mentin of how oral history that storytellers pass on is important and helps preserve the heritage of our state. While New Mexico may not be familiar to the average person we do have a great deal of history. From the railroad to Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders, Billy the Kid, New Deal artists and the development of the atomic bomb in Los Alamos. This state also has a wide blend of cultures - Native Americans, Spanish and Mexican among them.

In the article Hayes spoke of the performance aspect of good storytelling. And indeed it can be fine entertainment. Even the storytellers in your family around the kitchen table know this. But storytelling also has other purposes. Nasariou Garcia mentioned that it also includes education as well as serving up a dose of moralilty.

March 4, 2010

Happy National Grammar Day!

Thanks to fellow APH member Pat McNee (and current president of the Association of Personal Historians) for the reminder that today, March 4, is National Grammar Day. Are you "dotting your i's and crossing the t's" of your writing, etc? We can get caught up in grammar mistakes, but don't let that slow you down from the main point of your life story writing - the content! Yes, good grammar is important, but you can fix that in the re-writing.

Here's some more info from the official National Grammar Day site. Celebrate language and enjoy some fun grammar acitivities.

March 2, 2010

New TV Series explores who you are

The idea of discovering who you are by researching your family history is an old one, but surprisingly it is still an idea that has not completely caught on. In other words, saving your personal history is still a growing trend.

This trend is about to get a great boost with a new television series on NBC that explores the family roots and history of several celebrities. Who Do You Think You Are? premieres on Friday, March 5th. The series follows the journeys into the past and life history of seven well-known celebrities, among them Sarah Jessica Parker (actress), Spike Lee (filmmaker), Emmitt Smith (football great) and Lisa Kudrow (actress and the executive producer of this series).

What can we learn from these up-close and personal looks into the lives of some of today's best loved celebrities? I think we will learn the same things that everyday people like you and I learn. We learn where we come from, who our ancestors are, and a bit of how historic events intersect with the lives of our family members. Surely there will be some surprises along the journey.

It will be interesting to see how the popularity of discovering, preserving and sharing our life stories grows as a result of this new series (an adaptation of the award-winning British documentary series). Ancestry.com, the huge online resource for family history and genealogy research, is connected to this new series. Find out more at the official Who Do You Think You Are? website.

February 28, 2010

A Glowing Report for Vancouver's "With Glowing Hearts" Winter Olympics 

The Winter Olympics 2010 in Vancouver, Canada has wrapped up. Lots of great sports moments. The spirit of International competition at the games often makes me think about our world. We have great diversity in our cultures and countries. But we all have in common the fact that we have the stories of our lives. You can see alot about the games at the official website. It was pretty exciting to have the USA battling Canada for the gold medal in hockey. The host country came out on top. Canada also set an olympic record for the most gold medals by one country in a winter olympics. Congratulations to the "Great White North"!

Canadian personal historian and fellow member on the APH, Dan Curtis, has been excited throughout. I have to give some "props" to the ongoing great tips he provides at his blog. You should check it out.

On the heels of the Olympic games another International member of the APH, Annie Payne (from Australia), is giving you the opportunity to build your story in March with a daily tip as part of a free email workshop. I've signed up and I'm looking forward to it. You can find out more here.

February is a wrap. We had a full family day with the baptism of our new grandson, Jacob Ray. I consider that an "olympic" moment.

February 22, 2010

Scripting Your Life

I believe there's some truth to the adage that what we focus on we tend to attract. I'm cautious about how this is sometimes presented to people - or even preached. What I mean is the selling of the Law of Attraction (aka "The Secret") can mislead people into believing they can get whatever they set their hearts and minds to, that it will "magically" come to them. I don't think life works like that. We don't have a magic lamp that we rub to make our wishes or dreams come true.

Instead, we should dream - and dream big - and then work towards our dreams and let spiritual principles guide us. Having faith in something bigger and living a life that promotes goodness, kindness and unconditional love will lead you to a fulfilled life. You might not get the job you want or become rich, but you will awaken to a greater destiny.

I'm thinking and writing about this topic this morning because I saw an interesting article. How To Write the Script for Your Ideal Life by Kate Corbin (a life coach) and it got me thinking about our life stories. There are some valid points to consider. Everyday we are indeed scripting our life. If your life was a movie would you want to watch it? You can read the article at screenwritingbasics.com.

February 18, 2010

I went for a run this morning. Although it was chilly I was glad to do it. Many of you know I've enjoyed distance running the past few years. However, I have been battling a lingering cough/cold and this was the first time I'd been out for a run in nearly a month.

While running I was reminded how important it is to keep a discipline in things that require ongoing work. This is so very true in life story writing. When you first decide to write about your life it can feel overwhelming. But little by little you can make real progress. You just have to keep at it.

I listen to music on my iPod. While nearing the end of my run for some reason my thoughts turned to Eric Clapton. I hadn't heard any of his songs on this run, but I was thinking about how much I like his music. I was also reminiscing about his life which has been full of many triumphs and tragedies. I highly recommend his autobiography, Clapton-The Autobiography. In it he honestly details his upbringing, discovery of music, his dedication to learning the guitar, the heady days of music in the 60's and 70's, battling drugs and alcohol and his eventual recovery. Anyway, a few minutes later as I finished my run one of his songs came on my player. Now I have my iPod on shuffle so this wasn't planned; it was completely random. But the moment of syncronicity was special, especially since the song was Let It Grow. The opening lines of the song can be applied to life reflection and recollection. "Standing at the crossroads, trying to read the signs. To tell me which way I should go to find the answer, and all the time I know, plant your love and let it grow".

February 17, 2010

Steve Jobs Biography in the Making

Steve Jobs, founder and CEO of Apple, is one of shining stars of Silicon Valley and certainly influential in so many ways to the state of our technology. You know the line of products: Mac computers, iPod, iTunes, iPhone and now the iPad. Lots of "i" stuff.

What can we expect from his bio? Jobs is collaborating with Walter Isaacson, the writer known for his biographies, Einstein: His Life and Universe and  Benjamin Franklin: An American Life. Clearly a writer who has written about historical icons.

Check out the Apple Blog for an interesting post by Liam Cassidy. He raises the questions and points I think a lot of people share about what this biography might entail (or what he hopes it will). I'm impressed that he doesn't pull any punches.

February 15, 2010

Reflecting on Presidents

Today is the observance of the Presidents Day holiday in the United States. This holiday's original intention was the commemoration of George Washington's birthday(22nd), but since Abraham Lincoln was also born in February (the 12th), it's become recognition of these two great former Commanders in Chief. The "highest office of the land" in this country has been rife with history and controversy.

Some of our past presidents have served in times of great challenges. Washington was the first and led us through our early development as an independent republic. Abraham Lincoln, perhaps the most admired, probably had the term with the toughest assignment - dealing with a nation breaking apart in the Civil War. His great leadership, humility and compassion are widely noted. He lived with incredible hardship and reportedly faced deep depression. But he didn't give in to it.

Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) had the Great Depression and World War II. New deals and not giving in to fear were his legacy. 

In my lifetime there's been Eisenhower, Kennedy (I still remember being on the playgound in second grade in Forth Worth, Texas when they called us in to the school to send us home the day he was assasinated a few miles away in Dallas), LBJ, Nixon, Gerald Ford (I later lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan, his hometown), Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr. and now Obama.

What impact have the presidents had on you? How has your personal history intersected with the nation's? These might be some good things to journal on.

February 11, 2010

Katie Vaughan of Sojourn Lifewriting was recently profiled by The Spokesman-Review (Idaho site/publication) about how her services as a personal historian have made an impact in various people's lives. The article does a great job explaining her services and what a personal historian can do for clients, like preserving a deceased father's story for a family history.

Vaughan is quoted as saying, “A personal history is more than genealogy, more than the names, dates and places on a family tree. A personal history tells the stories behind those facts, creating a legacy for families and future generations. When people die, they take their memories with them; this helps preserve those stories.”

I mention this article because of how well it explains what many personal historians do and the value of it. Ms. Vaughan is another member of the Association of Personal Historians. The sharing, collaboration and encouragement that APH members give each other and how the organization and its members are promoting the importance of life story preservation is one of the driving reasons for my continued membership.

 
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