I am a life storytelling evangelist! I encourage everyone to write their life stories and I help them do that through workshops and my books. This article is just one more important reason to record a life story for the family now and for those future generations.
If you ever decide to write about mental health and it’s affects on those who live with it, I would love to talk with you. It’s a difficult place to be in society as it’s so much misunderstood.
Thank you. I find comfort in those words. I have a severe mental illness, Schizoaffective Disorder that has caused much hurt between my family and I. I was not being included in in annual family events and was often gaslighted when I did see them. Last Summer I cut all ties because of of hurtful behaviors and their unwillingness to learn about my illness. So leaving a legacy of family history at this point seems doubtful, and we are only a family of 13, about to be 14, but I am not invited to the wedding. In fact, I had been told there were no wedding plans. It’s a sad state of family affairs and it broke my heart.
Well-written and interesting. Really applies to my life right now. Funny, I just wrote something on my Stack about my mom/family/Dad's terminal cancer which is relevant to this. It's about family myth: https://reallife82.substack.com/p/family-myth
I have followed you for many years, since the writing of “Abraham,” and have always heard such compelling writing. History, particularly family history, holds such great significance. In my 21 years of genealogical research I have sewn together stories of the lives of many ancestors who lived through some of the toughest situations I could ever imagine. I’ve even connected with relatives back in Sweden who are third cousins via Ancestry.com. and a little bit of luck from a Chicago family whose daughter ended up as their foreign exchange student two years ago.
The problem is that nobody in the family is interested in any of it. They’ve asked me to just write it all down and put it in a box for them. It doesn’t work that way.
What a lovely piece. I have just discovered your newsletter- subscribed! I’m a child psychiatrist and really appreciated reading this. I’ll have to direct others here.
I love this column. Thanks for the news of your new book. Hope you’ll be in Georgia for a book talk soon.
I am a life storytelling evangelist! I encourage everyone to write their life stories and I help them do that through workshops and my books. This article is just one more important reason to record a life story for the family now and for those future generations.
If you ever decide to write about mental health and it’s affects on those who live with it, I would love to talk with you. It’s a difficult place to be in society as it’s so much misunderstood.
I am glad I found you here, Bruce.
Thank you. I find comfort in those words. I have a severe mental illness, Schizoaffective Disorder that has caused much hurt between my family and I. I was not being included in in annual family events and was often gaslighted when I did see them. Last Summer I cut all ties because of of hurtful behaviors and their unwillingness to learn about my illness. So leaving a legacy of family history at this point seems doubtful, and we are only a family of 13, about to be 14, but I am not invited to the wedding. In fact, I had been told there were no wedding plans. It’s a sad state of family affairs and it broke my heart.
Thank you for this post!
Well-written and interesting. Really applies to my life right now. Funny, I just wrote something on my Stack about my mom/family/Dad's terminal cancer which is relevant to this. It's about family myth: https://reallife82.substack.com/p/family-myth
Michael Mohr
"The Incompatibility of Being Alive"
https://reallife82.substack.com/
I have followed you for many years, since the writing of “Abraham,” and have always heard such compelling writing. History, particularly family history, holds such great significance. In my 21 years of genealogical research I have sewn together stories of the lives of many ancestors who lived through some of the toughest situations I could ever imagine. I’ve even connected with relatives back in Sweden who are third cousins via Ancestry.com. and a little bit of luck from a Chicago family whose daughter ended up as their foreign exchange student two years ago.
The problem is that nobody in the family is interested in any of it. They’ve asked me to just write it all down and put it in a box for them. It doesn’t work that way.
What a lovely piece. I have just discovered your newsletter- subscribed! I’m a child psychiatrist and really appreciated reading this. I’ll have to direct others here.