Writing Your Life Story Blog

May 23, Keying in on Ray Manzarek of the Doors

Thu, 23 May 2013 00:15:02 GMT

Another musical icon passed on Monday (cancer at the age of 74). Ray Manzarek was an innovative keyboardist and music maestro for the Doors. The face and voice of that famous rock group was Jim Morrison, but it was Manzarek's keyboard work that really set the tone. Any time I heard Manzarek interviewed I was always struck by his articulate expression of the music.

May 21, The Roar of the Tornado

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:54:14 GMT

It can sound like a thousand freight trains. The roar of a tornado is alarming, and with good reason. The news from today and yesterday about the powerful tornadoes that hit Oklahoma brought back memories of attending college in the late 1970's at the University of Oklahoma. Norman is the town where OU is based and it is also the national center for severe weather studies.

May 15, Preserving Our American Family

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:06:53 GMT

Who is saving the voices of America? That's a pretty wide open question. Many people enjoy the stories that various family members share. In every family there is often somebody known for being a good storyteller. See how it is being done in a grander and more professional way with the PBS television series, Our American Family.

May 7, Shoe Stories

Tue, 07 May 2013 02:14:29 GMT

Running shoes tell a story. Boston Magazine was getting their May issue ready to go to the printers when this year's Boston Marathon took a decidedly downturn. But the act of terrorists can not kill the spirit of runners, Boston or good people everywhere. The staff of the magazine made the right decision to change their cover and provide a feature story. They didn't have much time to work on it, but the response via social media, email and personal contact was great and they were able to include some powerful reports from people who participated in the marathon.

May 7, Your-Life-Your-Story - My Life Story Blog Archives, pril, 2013

Tue, 07 May 2013 02:13:03 GMT

An archive of previous My Life Story blog entries from April, 2013 regarding personal history, life story writing and more.

Apr 30, In Passing - Death as Transition

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 01:04:07 GMT

I've often wondered at the analogy some use about dying, that it is like the passing of a baton. We are carrying the "baton" of this life and when we die we pass it off. I must admit I like the image of our carrying something through life, be it our gift, our personality, or our essence, that is left behind as we pass over to the next life or plane of existence.

"In passing" - it's a phrase that is with me again. Two days ago my aunt died. She was 88 and lived a good life, full of adventure, travel and a variety of experiences. She was modest and quiet, didn't like to talk about herself, but she knew a lot and loved to read books on history.

Apr 30, In Passing - Death as Transition

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 01:02:14 GMT

content of article or page about life story writing and our spiritual journey.

Apr 26, Richie Haven's Unique Voice

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 01:15:39 GMT

Those who saw the Woodstock Festival documentary (or were lucky enough to be there in person in 1969 for "three days of peace, love and music") were treated to an incredible opening. One man, with his guitar, percussive strumming and singing, delivered a tour de force. Folk singer Richie Havens - there simply wasn't anybody else like him in music. His riveting raspy voice, his passionate delivery and his interpretation of songs was unique.Richie Havens passed away at the age of 72 this week.

Apr 21, Boston Be Strong and Brave

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 16:23:29 GMT

When fans gathered at Fenway Park in Boston on April 20, 2013 they came for more than a baseball game. On this particular Saturday Bostonians came to the ballpark both to seek companionship and a return to normalcy.They also came remember and honor the lives lost or dramatically changed after the bombings and violence of the past week.

Apr 16, Bombs at Boston Marathon - A Runner's Lament

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 11:40:53 GMT

Running a marathon is very hard. The long distance running event of 26.2 miles takes a physical, mental and emotional toll on every contestant. This doesn't include the long hours and many miles of training leading up to the event. I know from personal experience, having run my first two marathons the year I turned fifty.

The news of the tragedy that unfolded in Boston on Monday, April 15, 2013 at the most iconic of all marathons has once again rocked our world. Two bombs went off near the finish line about two hours after the first runners finished. Thousands were crowded into the area and the bombs created instant destruction and harm.As a runner this act of terrorism affects me in a way I couldn't predict.

Apr 9, Thumbs Up for the Life of Roger Ebert

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 01:29:38 GMT

I never met the man, but I feel like I know him. I read many of Roger Ebert's film reviews over the years. Sometimes I angrily disagreed, at other times it was more of a shrug that we didn't see eye-to-eye, but there were also plenty of times when I thought his insight was terrific. He clearly loved the movies and loved to write and talk about them. He saw them as a way to comment about life in general, which perhaps makes the title of his memoir, Life Itself: A Memoir, all the more appropriate.

Apr 1, Stories in a Matchbox

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 15:28:59 GMT

The things we own, the various mementos of our lives, can be touchstones for the stories of our lives. For many people these objects might be the personal history, and unless someone asks about them and records the stories connected to them, the life story remains locked up inside of these objects.

Discovering such secrets is theme of The Matchbox Diary by Paul Fleischman and illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline.

Apr 1, Your-Life-Your-Story - My Life Story Blog Archives, March, 2013

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 14:11:20 GMT

An archive of previous My Life Story blog entries from March, 2013 regarding personal history, life story writing and more.

Mar 26, The Poet's Memoir

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 01:53:02 GMT

Recollection, introspection - respiration, inspiration. Scanning memory, thinking about it, breathing the past and getting fueled for tomorrow, these are some of the things I admire about poets. There is something about their view of life, a perspective that elevates the mundane to greatness or lowers the lofty to sea level. Yesterday, tomorrow and the now all collide and revolve and orbit each other in the poet's mind/eye/heart/soul.

Richard Blanco, this year's inaugural poet (One Today), has released a memoir, Looking for The Gulf Motel, and the review by Julie Marie Wade is fascinating because it raises questions about what constitutes memoir.

Mar 20, Family Narrative For the Good of the Children

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 03:06:45 GMT

I've seen more than once how writing or telling someone your life story can have a benefit on your mental, physical and often emotional health. But the New York Times just released a story, The Stories That Bind Us, stating how good it is for your children's health, especially as they grapple with the challenges they will go through in life. Having a strong family narrative can give your children insight on how to deal with the inevitable ups and downs of life. They develop confidence, they feel more secure and they tend to be more resilient.

Mar 13, Becoming Virtually Immortal

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 22:46:44 GMT

We live in a time when the means to preserve a life story are more advanced and accessible than ever before. No longer do you have to rely on pen and paper or even old fashioned photography. Technology has made recording our lives through digital means possible with our smartphones, advanced cameras, recorders, tablets and computers.

It still takes some work and perhaps the help of a professional personal historian to pull together these elements and create a coherent finished product. But as a New York Times article Hey, at Least You Can Be Virtually Immortal reveals, we are living in a great time for preserving our stories.

Mar 11, Time Enough For Time

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 16:26:38 GMT

The semi-annual ritual of changing the clocks one hour took place this weekend. Daily Savings Time kicked in as we moved our clocks forward one hour and got robbed of a precious sixty minutes of sleep Saturday night. Messing with our "body clocks" can result in feeling out of sorts. Are you one of the many who feel this way when we spring forward or fall back for the start or end of Daylight Savings Time?

Mar 8, Death and the Online Process of Tribute and Grief

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 01:18:17 GMT

We live in a different kind of world than previous generations. Information is everywhere. The Internet is at our fingertips.When death occurs, be it family, friends or celebrity, we often find out about it through social media, blogs or tribute sites. In addition to discovering this news, many are driven to comment. It brings a public mourning aspect to death.

Mar 5, Forest Fenn and His Hidden Treasure

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 04:08:12 GMT

A Santa Fe man has an interesting legacy he wants to leave. Forest Fenn is a famous art and antiquities dealer who retired after he was diagnosed with cancer in 1998.Fenn wrote a memoir titled The Thrill of the Chase and in the book he put clues to the location of buried treasure. This treasure, in an honest-to-God treasure chest, contains $2 million worth of gold nuggets, jewelry and other valuable archaeological finds that he had collected over the years. It is supposedly buried somewhere in the deserts of the Southwest. While many have been searching for it the past several years, nobody has found it.

Mar 5, Forest Fenn and His Hidden Treasure

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 04:07:50 GMT

Mar 3, Your-Life-Your-Story - My Life Story Blog Archives, February, 2013

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 15:42:22 GMT

An archive of previous My Life Story blog entries from February, 2013 regarding personal history, life story writing and more.

Feb 27, Writing About Writers - keys to an interesting short author bio

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 00:54:36 GMT

Authors are writers. So why are so many author bios that you find on the back of their book or on their website mundane? Why shouldn't bio blurbs be as intriguing or interesting as the words those authors craft on the pages of the book they've labored over?

Feb 20, Living Life Twice Slice of Life Post

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 03:59:01 GMT

I came across a beautifully written post about observing our lives and not taking anything for granted. I've never visited the Living Life Twice website before, but I'm grateful my Google Alerts alerted me to it. I enjoyed his post and was delighted to discover Alan Wright is also a teacher. It is something we share in common, along with a love for life story writing.

Feb 15, Celebrate the 88

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 00:03:26 GMT

She's traveled the world, from the pyramids to the Andes, and many other exotic locales. Many of her trips have been with her daughter (my cousin) who's quite well traveled, having lived for a while in South Africa and working stateside as a concierge at five star resorts.

She's well read, a history buff and a cat lover. My aunt is quite the amazing lady. She turned 88 years young today. That's right, on Valentine's Day.

Feb 12, The Power of Each Second of Your Life

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 03:39:57 GMT

There are so many things happening in our lives. The really big ones impact us and we remember them. They can become turning points and life changing.

But what about the many seconds of our life that fly by? Each second contains something. Have you ever stopped to consider what a montage of these life occurrences would show you?

Feb 8, The Beatles Invade America

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 01:46:19 GMT

Today is the 49th anniversary of a British invasion that changed America and the world. The Beatles flew into JFK airport on February 7, 1964. There were over 5,000 fans waiting for them, mostly screaming young girls. Beatlemania came to the United States as the amazing Fab Four came to New York City.

Feb 6, The Last Life Story Question

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 01:51:27 GMT

When interviewing someone for their life story it is important to ask good questions. Of course you will want to probe about childhood, career, adventures, the good times and the bad. But what do you ask at the end of the interview?

Feb 5, Your-Life-Your-Story - My Life Story Blog Archives, January, 2013

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 03:26:15 GMT

An archive of previous My Life Story blog entries from January, 2013 regarding personal history, life story writing and more.

Jan 31, Rolland's Life Stories Inspire His Fiction

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 12:43:57 GMT

I met Rolland Love, a grand elder of fishing, exploring and life stories, last June in Kansas City. We'd communicated by email prior to that, around the time my Dad was passing away, just over a year ago. He is the driving force behind, I'm A Story, a website designed to get you to write and post (for free) your life story experiences. Rolland has started blogging about his life with the entry, Death in a Cave.

Jan 27, Journal Writing Reflection

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 00:15:30 GMT

All productive writers tell us that regular writing sessions are essential. I best practice this by writing in my journal.If you are working on a memoir, keeping a journal allows you to read about your thoughts, emotions and life happenings from various times in your life.

Jan 24, One Day Inaugural Special From Richard Blanco

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 01:10:21 GMT

On Monday as part of the ceremonies surrounding President Barrack Obama's inauguration into a second term, Richard Blanco read his poem written especially for the occasion. One Today, in my humble opinion, is an instant classic. It captures the spirit of our people, our country and our times. The piece was not pompous or bombastic; neither was it pious or particularly political.

Richard Blanco gave us words that capture the essence of our diversity, our varied economy, our sense of grandeur and commonality. It spoke of our humanity.

Jan 20, Changing the Script

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 15:42:42 GMT

I'm 39 years old. My downward spiral began in 2007, I suffer from PSTD pretty bad. I often medicated myself with Alcohol & whatever I could ingest.

Jan 20, Your Life Changing Event --An article on Your Life, Your Story

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 15:37:17 GMT

Your life changing event is something significant that happens to you and shapes how you view life and possibly alters you in a significant way. It could be a sickness, loss of a job, getting married, death of a loved one or other event.

Jan 20, The Nightmare of a Five Year Old

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 15:35:49 GMT

(At age 35 this is how God got my attention. I had this story made into a gospel tract.) We lived in a huge old farm house that was so big the owners

Jan 18, Legacy Letters, Value Statements and Ethical Wills

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 00:33:03 GMT

Values - we all have them even if we are not consciously aware of them. The things that are most important to us in our life journey shape and influence us everyday. The need to be in touch with these values and communicate them to others has spawned a growing trend of writing Ethical Wills. The popularity and necessity of "last wills and testaments" or "living wills" is well established. An important component should be the legacy letter, value statement or ethical will.

Jan 15, Writers Whose Life Story Inspired Others

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 15:38:06 GMT

Our lives are our stories and thankfully throughout history there have been many writers whose life story inspired others. A guest post by Eve Pearce gives us insight into some of these writers, including Thomas DeBaggio, Dave Pelzer and Anne Frank.

Jan 15, Portrait of a Father as a Young Boy

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 01:08:15 GMT

My sister gave me a picture some months ago. At first I thought it was a picture of me as a toddler. But I soon realized it is a picture of Dad. On this one year anniversary of his death I am finding some comfort in focusing on the happy, smiling boy. I only knew my father in his adult years, yet it is good to recognize that he was once a young kid. He experienced youth, he played and laughed, cried and got scraped up. He learned about the world with the wide-eyed wonder that children have and which we so often lose in our later years.

Jan 11, More Music Memoirs

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 00:51:28 GMT

Music memoirs and biographies continue to be a popular trend, fueled in part by the very large baby boom population hitting senior citizen status. Add to the list Leonard Cohen, Bruce Springsteen and John Fogerty.

Jan 7, Honoring Fallen Sandy Hook Students

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 03:45:08 GMT

The tragedy of the lives lost at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut rocked the world. It will take a long time to heal the hurt. We can't change what happened. But we can honor those who died. We can learn a lot from those children by looking at how they lived their all too brief lives. Youngsters at that age (6, 7 & 8) are full of awe, wonder, curiosity and enthusiasm. They didn't live long enough to have careers or titles. Their obituaries aren't about what they accomplished, but rather on how they embraced life fully.

Jan 2, Ten Good Life Story Interview Starters

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 20:28:29 GMT

Here are ten good life story interview questions to get you started on your life story.

Jan 2, Your-Life-Your-Story - My Life Story Blog Archives, December, 2012

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 19:57:14 GMT

An archive of previous My Life Story blog entries from December, 2012 regarding personal history, life story writing and more.

Dec 18, About Tom Gilbert, Personal Historian of Your-Life-Your-Story.com

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 00:47:35 GMT

The purpose and the vision of your-life-your-story.com, about the founder

Dec 18, Site Build It (SBI!) Up Close

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 00:46:49 GMT

On this page we regularly put into the Spotlight a highlight site that provides quality family history and life story methods, products and services.

Dec 1, Your-Life-Your-Story - My Life Story Blog Archives, November, 2012

Sat, 01 Dec 2012 22:23:34 GMT

An archive of previous My Life Story blog entries from November, 2012 regarding personal history, life story writing and more.

Nov 5, Your-Life-Your-Story - My Life Story Blog Archives, October, 2012

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 02:55:41 GMT

An archive of previous My Life Story blog entries from October, 2012 regarding personal history, life story writing and more.

Oct 26, Life

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 02:21:25 GMT

Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they were meant to be there, to serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson, or to

Oct 1, Your-Life-Your-Story - My Life Story Blog Archives, September, 2012

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 13:23:32 GMT

An archive of previous My Life Story blog entries from September, 2012 regarding personal history, life story writing and more.

Sep 13, Your Memoir and The Larger World

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 21:10:07 GMT

A slice of life memoir that includes your experiences set against or within the context of an important historical event allows your readers the opportunity to see history through your eyes. Your Memoir can tap into The Larger World.

Sep 11, Nothing comes without a price

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 13:23:08 GMT

I am 15 years old, and i have already had a few life changing events in my life. Two of my grandparents passed away before i turned 10. It gave me respect

Sep 8, Your Life Is Your Story Editing Services

Sat, 08 Sep 2012 20:31:51 GMT

Professional assistance for your memoir, autobiography or life story from Tom Gilbert, writer and personal historian.