Telling Your Story

Why tell your story?

A "one horse open sleigh" circa 1895

Ponder some of your experiences and how they have shaped your life.

Perhaps they included the way your grandmother encouraged your drawing ability and what that opened up for you, or how your family recovered from a disastrous flood.

Your experiences are part of your personal history and of the times in which you have lived.  They have influenced the person you have become—your values, your sense of purpose, and how you coped with what life confronted you with.

You tell your life story for the people who know you and love you.  They will treasure being invited into the reality of your experiences.  Those who come after you will feel a connection to you long after you have gone.

Some things don't change across the generations!

The fascinating life stories of these three little sisters of 1913 (with two more sisters yet to come) will some day enthrall their great-grandchildren (and five more yet to come!).

How do we begin?

The interviews take place in your home.  To begin the process, we get acquainted and talk about the ideas you have for telling your life story.  Together, we develop a focus and organize a general outline to guide us during the interviews.  Some preliminary considerations might be:

• Do you want your book to cover your whole life or particular periods of your life?

• Do you want to include highlights about your parents, grandparents or earlier ancestors' history?

• How much of the book do you want to focus on your life apart from that of your partner and/or children?

When you feel ready to begin, we record your story as it unfolds during a series of relaxed and comfortable interview sessions, keeping to a pace that works well for you.  

We don't come with a prepared list of standard questions—our questions arise in response to your telling of your life experiences.  

You may want to tell your story over two or three days to allow time to say everything you feel is important to say.  There is no need to relate incidents in precise chronological sequence, as the arrangement of material will be taken care of during the editing process.  During the days the interviewing takes place, you may want to go over pictures, letters, recognitions and special memorabilia that you would like to include in your book.

"Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person,

having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words,

but pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain together;

certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them,

keep what is worth keeping,

and then with the breath of kindness blow the rest away."

—Dinah Craik, A Life for a Life (1859)

"Still question'd me the story of my life from year to year,
the battles, sieges, fortunes I have passed."

—William Shakespeare, Othello

What can you expect in the interviewing process?

What have you gleaned from your travels?
(Old stave church in Norway)

It can be a daunting undertaking to tell your life story.  Yet talking about your life is extremely rewarding when an interviewer is engaged in helping you draw forth the experiences of your past.  

The story of your life is filled with particulars—where you have lived, the schools you have attended, the work you've done, the people close to you.  All these are important in providing the structure of your life.  Yet your life is much more than a series of events—it's also how you have come to understand the meaning and mystery of life.  It's the story of your seeking and what you've found.

What you remember over the course of your life may encompass a wide range of experiences and emotions, all significant in your life journey.  In telling your life story, you may even rediscover cherished friends and events you had completely forgotten about.

Not all memories are comfortable ones, of course.  Reflecting on difficult times and putting them into a new perspective will often help you let go of any pain surrounding those memories.  In that regard, you will pass on a gift to your family— the realization that one can live through and learn from the tough times. 

Telling your life story is also a gift you give yourself, for the process of revisiting your life can be profoundly satisfying.