Home
What
Story and Why
How to
Tell
What's
New
Blog
Life
Story Resources
Research
is Fun
Get
Started
Highlight
Site
Sample
Writing
Free
Newsletter
Articles
About
Contact Us
Privacy
Terms

|
The
"Your Life is Your
Story" Blog
Read about
quality family history and life story news, views, methods, products,
links, services
...and whatever else catches our fancy
Read past entries - see the blog archive index
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.
Everybody
has a story to tell!
Your-Life-Your-Story.com
Copyright © 2003 - 2010 All
rights
reserved
Email
Tom Gilbert
|