Stories that don't fit. Endings that do!
Stories that don't fit. Endings that do!
by Frank Schiffman
My mother used to say, “Life is all about memories.” Now that I am well into my 60s, I appreciate her philosophy more with each passing day. Trouble is that if left to their own devices, memories fade away. Thank God we have memories in the first place. If all we did was live in the moment the world would be one scary place. Imagine making the same mistake over and over again simply because you had no recollection of the penalty you paid the first time you made it.
Memories make us happy, sad, laugh, reflect, and regret. I’m sure you can list many more adjectives of your own. In memories, we see ourselves as heroes, bystanders, victims, judges, and jurors of our own histories. We tell our stories to family and friends. They linger in the air for a time and quickly get lost among the next topic of conversation.
Websites like 23andMe and Ancestory.com would have us all believe that we are simply products of progeny. Ancestral facts leave personal histories to the imagination of the researcher. Is that how you want to be remembered by future generations? I doubt it. I know I don’t.
If you want to establish more for generations to come, start your own history by committing your memories to paper, video or a podcast. That way, your children and theirs will know who your were, what you did and how you thought. It will be so much more than tracing their roots on the internet and speculating as to what type of person you were and the part you played in shaping their own histories.
This isn’t a particularly new idea. If you have had the opportunity to listen to NPR’s Story Core series, you’ll hear how many people have found a way to share life-changing memories with program listeners. Most segments are three minutes long. However, if you want to make more of an impact, do what I have done. Start by writing short stories about your life. In my case, it has led to both a podcast series, Out-Of-Place short stories and a yet to be published novel, Caught in the Middle about my adventures working for a Fortune 500 Company.
Your journey to “recording history” begins with the first word you commit to paper. Get writing.