There is an urgent need to introduce life story recording into aged care facilities as part of the patient-centred care of our seniors and people living with dementia. Life story recording includes writing memoirs and life stories, photos books and audio and video recording. Repeated research studies reveal that recording a person’s life story has […]
Able to capture the twinkle in an eye, a mischievous tone, the choking of a tear and the happiness of the biggest laugh, video life stories may be a good deal shorter than a written memoir but they do have their place and do have their clear benefits. From talking about the hardships growing up […]
If you are writing a memoir, you should have not only read a number of other memoirs yourself, but you should inhale as many books about the art of memoir writing as you can. Here’s a list of the best books (and an online course) I’ve discovered about writing memoir and how to get your […]
As we approach Australia Day, I’m putting the final touches on the major assignment for the online Family History Writing course I’m doing at the University of Tasmania. We have to write a short narrative focused on one of our ancestors, a place they lived or an event in their life. The narrative must demonstrate the […]
Now that the clocks have ticked over into 2019, it is the perfect time to reflect on our life during 2018. The special moments, ups and downs, challenges, victories and learnings. It is also a time to commit to implementing important changes in our life—changing jobs, retiring, starting a new course, study, taking up exercise, […]
As Christmas approaches are you struggling to find the perfect gift for your parents or grandparents? Do your Dad and Grandfather have enough socks and undies to last a lifetime and is your Mum’s bookcase and that of your Grannie bursting at the seams with recipe books they never read? Have you thought of giving […]
Biographers who help people to record their memoirs see firsthand the benefits people get from the process of reminiscing and sharing their life stories. Here are just some of the reasons why … 1) It can help us to understand ourselves better. ‘Know thyself’, Socrates urged. He also said: ‘The unexamined life is not worth […]
A question participants in my memoir writing workshops often ask me is: ‘Where should I start my story? At my birth? An important milestone? A momentous occasion? If you are writing a life story you may think you have to start with yourbirth and progress chronologically to the present. But you don’t have to adhere […]
October 7-13 is Mental Health Week, an annual, national event that aims to improve community awareness and interest in mental health and wellbeing. Events honouring the week culminate on World Mental Health Day (10 October). Mental Health Week puts the spotlight on the mental health of older Australians and ways we can enhance their psychological […]
“My mother worked on a highly secret military project during the Second World War, as my father flew Spitfires overhead and headed into battle.” “I’m a descendant of the Duke of Northumberland (‘on the wrong side of the sheets’, as they say), or so I’ve been led to believe.” “My grandmother had a shipbuilding empire […]
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