by Mike Cavanagh
My dear old mum used to tell me ‘blink and it’s gone, Michael.’ Like a lot of parental advice that I deemed of little interest to me at the time, as years passed my parents strangely grew in their wisdom. Now they’ve both gone and I look back on all the times I (and my two siblings) said ‘oh Dad! Not this story again!’ and wish I could go back in time with a rolled up newspaper and give myself a swift, sharp clip across the ears. Or, more usefully, take something with which I could record my parent’s stories. For the record, I’ve tried to set things right: my siblings and I put together a book that tells the story of our parents’ lives and the history that lead to them being together.
Thinking about my lost opportunity to record my parents’ lives when they were alive motivated me to have another look at my own. Then, a friend said one of those clichéd things that friends reminiscing do: “Been a heck of a ride, Mike!” I looked back over the years and realised he was right. Funny though, it had never seemed like anything special up to that point.
Here’s the thing about memoirs. The stories they tell are unique. Not only that, you are the only one who can tell yours. You can have someone put pen to paper for you, or more likely finger to keyboard, but it’s your story; no-one else’s. Never has been, never will be.
Three memoirs later and I am avidly encouraging and supporting anyone and everyone to write their memoir. It’s why I run memoir writing courses and have set up Magpie Cottage Enterprises to help folks craft their memoirs from blank page to published book in hand or on your eBook reader of choice.
The simple truth is, if you don’t tell, record, or write your story, who will? There’s help at hand if you need it. What are you waiting for?
Trust me, or better yet, trust my mum: blink and it’s gone.
Mike Cavanagh from Magpie Cottage Enterprises is a multi-published memoirist, Mike believes every person has a life story that’s worth telling. In conjunction with the South Coast Writers Centre Mike also coordinates and runs Go Write Yourself, a series of online, memoir writing courses.
For more information have a look at Mike’s member bio in our NSW member list.
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