Category Archives: Quotes

The Life Story Quote of The Week

Posted on April 13, 2009 by Dan Curtis| Leave a comment

start

Do not wait; the time will never be “just right.” Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.

George Herbert ~ (3 April 1593 – 1 March 1633) was a Welsh poet, orator and priest.

The question often arises, “When should I start on my life story?”  The answer is always the same. “Now.” It’s easy to procrastinate.  I don’t have time. I don’t know where to start. First, I need to take a memoir writing course. I’ll begin after I get back from my holidays.

I agree with George Herbert. There’s never a “right time.”  What’s important is to just start. Once you begin your life story you’ll soon discover what you need to craft your work.

Image by Dan Curtis from a photo by Martino Sabia

Share this post:

Add to FacebookAdd to DiggAdd to Del.icio.usAdd to StumbleuponAdd to RedditAdd to BlinklistAdd to Ma.gnoliaAdd to TechnoratiAdd to FurlAdd to Newsvine

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Life stories, Quotes, Writing

Tagged , , , ,

The Life Story Quote of The Week.

Posted on April 6, 2009 by Dan Curtis| Leave a comment

pen-and-journal

The positive thing about writing is that you connect with yourself in the deepest way, and that’s heaven. You get a chance to know who you are, to know what you think. You begin to have a relationship with your mind.

Natalie Goldberg – writer, Zen practitioner and teacher

One of the great benefits of keeping a journal or writing your life story is that it provides you with an opportunity for reflection. Becoming clearer about who you are makes for a happier life with less suffering. If you’ve thought about writing about your life but don’t know where to begin, I highly recommend two of Goldberg’s books. Her most recent, Old Friend from Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir was published in March, 2009. Her classic, Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within has sold over a million copies and was reissued in 2005 in an expanded addition.

Photo by churl han

Share this post:

Add to FacebookAdd to DiggAdd to Del.icio.usAdd to StumbleuponAdd to RedditAdd to BlinklistAdd to Ma.gnoliaAdd to TechnoratiAdd to FurlAdd to Newsvine

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Life stories, Quotes, Writing

Tagged , , , , ,

The Life Story Quote of The Week.

Posted on March 30, 2009 by Dan Curtis| Leave a comment

television-face

Television can stir emotions, but it doesn’t invite reflection as much as the printed page.

Bill Moyers, American journalist and public commentator

My work as a personal historian mainly involves creating video memoirs for my clients, although I do some written life stories as well. I believe television and the printed page each have their unique advantages. Unlike a life story book, a video memoir enables us to see and hear someone. It reveals, for example, their unique little speech patterns, the odd tilt of their head and their infectious laugh. From my experience, I know these physical characteristics become treasured remembrances for a family long after a loved one has died.

Photo by John X

Share this post:

Add to FacebookAdd to DiggAdd to Del.icio.usAdd to StumbleuponAdd to RedditAdd to BlinklistAdd to Ma.gnoliaAdd to TechnoratiAdd to FurlAdd to Newsvine

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Life stories, Personal historian, Quotes

Tagged , , , ,

The Life Story Quote of The Week.

Posted on March 23, 2009 by Dan Curtis| Leave a comment

naive

Dare to be naive.

R. Buckminster Fuller,  American architect, author and futurist.

What’s Fuller saying? I think he’s commanding us to engage the world with a sense of wonder, freshness and innocence – much like a child.  A “beginner’s mind” is open to new possibilities and not wedded to old forms. How does this relate to life stories and personal historians? One of the advantages of hiring  personal historians is that they approach life stories with an open mind. They haven’t heard any of  the family history and so are fresh and engaged in it’s many intricate layers. As well, I know from experience that it can be the seemingly innocent and naive question that unlocks a treasure of forgotten memories.

Photo by tracy ducasse

Share this post:

Add to FacebookAdd to DiggAdd to Del.icio.usAdd to StumbleuponAdd to RedditAdd to BlinklistAdd to Ma.gnoliaAdd to TechnoratiAdd to FurlAdd to Newsvine

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Life stories, Personal historian, Quotes

Tagged , ,

The Life Story Quote of The Week

Posted on March 16, 2009 by Dan Curtis| Leave a comment

dignity

When you speak or write in your own voice you become subject rather than object. You transform your own destiny.

bell hooks – American author, feminist and social activist

There is strength and dignity in standing up and declaring who you are. It may not always be easy but you only have one life and it might as well be yours, not somebody else’s. One way you can become the “subject” of your life rather than the “object” is by recording and preserving your life story.

Photo by Charles Chan

Share this post:

Add to FacebookAdd to DiggAdd to Del.icio.usAdd to StumbleuponAdd to RedditAdd to BlinklistAdd to Ma.gnoliaAdd to TechnoratiAdd to FurlAdd to Newsvine

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Life stories, Quotes

Tagged , , , ,

The Life Story Quote of The Week

Posted on March 9, 2009 by Dan Curtis| Leave a comment

man-and-waterfall

It seems that the ancient Medicine Men understood that listening to another’s story somehow gives us the strength of example to carry on, as well as showing us aspects of ourselves we can’t easily see.  For listening to the stories of others – not to their precautions or personal commandments – is a kind of water that breaks the fever of our isolation.  If we listen closely enough, we are soothed into remembering our common name.

~ from The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo

In reading Mark Nepo’s quote I’m reminded once again that the act of listening to another’s story benefits not only the story teller but also me, the listener. One of the great benefits of story gathering is that we become more profoundly aware of our interconnectedness -  joined as we are by our common humanity.

Photo by Josh Schwartzman

Share this post:

Add to FacebookAdd to DiggAdd to Del.icio.usAdd to StumbleuponAdd to RedditAdd to BlinklistAdd to Ma.gnoliaAdd to TechnoratiAdd to FurlAdd to Newsvine

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Life stories, Quotes

Tagged , , , , ,

The Life Story Quote of The Week

Posted on March 3, 2009 by Dan Curtis| Leave a comment

lonely-tree

The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.

Nelson Henderson

North American culture is very focused on the present.  We tend to live for the day and our idea of the future can often go no further than plans for our next holiday or retirement. The idea that we might engage in doing something for which we will never see the results seems somewhat foreign. And yet that is what we are asked to do when we consider recording our life story or helping someone with theirs.

Our stories may not  interest this generation as much as those who follow. We have no better example of this than the fascination that old letters and diaries hold for us now – whether it’s the diary of a young Jewish girl, Anne Frank,  hiding with her family from Nazi persecution or the letters home from Civil War  soldiers.  I believe we have an obligation to record and preserve our stories. Remember, someone in the future wants to hear from you.

Photo by Jason H

Share this post:

Add to FacebookAdd to DiggAdd to Del.icio.usAdd to StumbleuponAdd to RedditAdd to BlinklistAdd to Ma.gnoliaAdd to TechnoratiAdd to FurlAdd to Newsvine

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Ancestors, Life stories, Quotes, Writing

Tagged , , ,

The Life Story Quote of The Week

Posted on February 23, 2009 by Dan Curtis| Leave a comment

lifestory-text

Ultimately, the richest resource for meaning and healing is one we already posses. It  rests (mostly untapped) in the material of our own lifestory, in the sprawling, many-layered “text” that has been accumulating within us across the years.

Restorying Our Lives: Personal Growth through Autobiographical Reflection by Kenyon, Gary M., and William L. Randall (1997)

This is one of my favorite quotations. I used it last week to conclude a workshop on “Life Stories as Healing” that I gave for group of palliative care workers. Life stories are much more than just a chronicling of a life lived.  Our stories also have the capacity to heal the soul.

Photo by Denis Collette

Share this post:

Add to FacebookAdd to DiggAdd to Del.icio.usAdd to StumbleuponAdd to RedditAdd to BlinklistAdd to Ma.gnoliaAdd to TechnoratiAdd to FurlAdd to Newsvine

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Life stories, Palliative care, Quotes

Tagged , , ,

The Life Story Quote of The Week

Posted on February 16, 2009 by Dan Curtis| 4 Comments

silence

It often shows an excellent command of language to say nothing.

~ Karol Newlin

I tried to find out who Karol Newlin is but had no luck.  Maybe someone out there can enlighten me – I’d love to know more about her. Anyhow, I like this quote because I was reminded of the power of silence in a video interview. I always tell rookie interviewers to be very conscious of the pauses and silences and to avoid filling that space with more talk.  Sometimes a person needs to pause to think about what to say next.  Sometimes the silence comes after an emotionally charged moment.  Saying nothing can speak volumes.

Photo by Karen

Share this post:

Add to FacebookAdd to DiggAdd to Del.icio.usAdd to StumbleuponAdd to RedditAdd to BlinklistAdd to Ma.gnoliaAdd to TechnoratiAdd to FurlAdd to Newsvine

→ 4 Comments

Posted in Interviewing, Life stories, Quotes

Tagged , , ,

The Life Story Quote of The Week

Posted on February 9, 2009 by Dan Curtis| 2 Comments

ghost-town-movie-poster-1

Your story, it’s not boring and ordinary, by the way. We just get the one life, you know. Just one. You can’t live someone else’s or think it’s more important just because it’s more dramatic. What happens matters, maybe only to us, but it matters.

- from the movie Ghost Town

If you haven’t seen Ghost Town you’re missing a terrific movie. I urge you to pick it up and take a look. What struck me about this bit of dialog I extracted, is how many people think of their lives as boring and ordinary. And they’re not.  In the twenty-five odd years  I’ve been interviewing folks, I’ve yet to encounter a life that hasn’t been interesting. As human beings we all deal with joy and suffering, success and failure, love and loss. How we each cope with life’s challenges is endlessly fascinating and ultimately illuminates our shared human experience.

Share this post:

Add to FacebookAdd to DiggAdd to Del.icio.usAdd to StumbleuponAdd to RedditAdd to BlinklistAdd to Ma.gnoliaAdd to TechnoratiAdd to FurlAdd to Newsvine

→ 2 Comments

Posted in Life stories, Movies, Quotes

Tagged , , , ,