Search Results for: blog the art of story telling

Shot through the Heart

Here’s a reality if you are the parent of a teen.  Sometimes it is going to hurt your heart. In fact, this past week I found myself humming the tune of an old 80’s favorite, “Shot through the Heart” by Bon Jovi.  Why?  Because that is exactly how an incident made me feel. Teen attitudes can get in the way of joy.  Adding to this, teens can be pretty unimpressed by our efforts to make life enjoyable or fun.  And oftentimes they tend to see the glass as half-empty instead of half-full. So here I thought I had discovered a … Continue reading →

Will You Attend the Family Story Slam?

The very first Story@Home conference included a Story Slam. The second annual Story@Home will take place in Feburary of 2013, and it will have a Family Story Slam. Are you going to participate? It sounds like it will be exciting, fun, and amusing. Story@Home is a conference that focuses on story. It is an excellent resource for genealogists who want to learn how to incorporate their family history into their genealogy research. You can learn how to preserve family stories from the past, and how storytelling helps to connect living family members. The second annual Story@Home conference will take place … Continue reading →

Spice Up Your Halloween Story

When it comes down to it, a scrapbook layout is really an adventure in storytelling. Photos, embellishments, memorabilia, captions and journaling all help recount a special memory and preserve it for years to come. With Halloween just around the corner, now is the time to start strategizing holiday layouts. Consider how you want to tell the tale of your All Hallows’ Eve festivities. For example, if you want to put an emphasis on photos rather than write out lengthy journaling blocks, consider spicing up the shots by taking them from unique angles. Experiment with some extreme close ups and or … Continue reading →

Family History Brings Comfort To Alzheimer’s Patients

When a family member is affected by Alzheimer’s disease, it can be devastating for everyone. Did you know that genealogy and family history stories can be very comforting to those who are becoming more and more confused as their memory deteriorates? When a family member shares a family story or looks through old photographs with a person who is affected by Alzheimer’s, they often recognize that what they are hearing or seeing is familiar. Interestingly enough, when someone is affected by Alzheimer’s disease, memories that were formed most recently are lost first and those formed long ago last the longest. … Continue reading →

What to See at Story@Home 2012 on Friday

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There will be plenty of things for genealogists to check out at the upcoming Story@Home conference. It is going to be taking place March 9 and March 10, 2012, at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. Here are a few of the many classes that you can attend. The Story@Home 2012 conference is described as something “that will change the way you see your stories and the world”. It is to help genealogists to make connections with their family members in new ways. On both Friday and Saturday, from 8:30 in the morning, to 6:00 in the evening, there … Continue reading →

Telling Our Story Part 2

So my husband just found out that we were approved for placement with 2 little brothers. They were 14 months and 3 years old and they were very soon going to be ours. When I picked up my jaw and hung up with my sister he went into all the other information about how our lives was going to change in just 3 days. We had 2 days to get car seats, diapers, clothes, sippy cups basically everything except toys we even had to go buy beds. It is really hard planning for a placement when it happens that fast … Continue reading →

Channeling Anxiety Through the Body: Rita’s Story

It’s challenging enough dealing with the anxiety that lives in our minds. But when it is channeled through the body – as it always is – anxiety works us over double time. Sometimes it manifests as a tightness in the gut, or clenching of the teeth or hands. Over time, though, anxiety takes a more dangerous toll on our physical sides, from ulcers and panic attacks, to high blood pressure and heart attacks. What’s worse is when we add fuel to the fire, treating our bodies in ways that only make anxiety worse. Rita knows this all too well. Promptly … Continue reading →

My Grandfather Was a Purple Heart

It really is possible to learn something new each time you have a chance to go and visit family. This weekend, I went to visit my mom and dad and during my trip I also attended a baby shower for my cousin and visited with one of my uncles. While we were sitting in my uncle’s living room, I noticed a very nice picture of my paternal grandfather, whom I never met because he had passed away before I was born. Until this weekend, I never really knew how he had passed away. I had assumed that it was cancer, … Continue reading →

Family History Is Fascinating

If you have ancestors that lived in America during the Great Depression, they may talk freely about how they survived those tough times. Some people don’t want to talk about it, but if you are lucky enough to know someone who does then you may want to spend some time interviewing them so that you can preserve their stories and their wisdom for future generations. When you talk to someone about how they got through the Great Depression, you may be surprised by what you hear – their tips for frugal living are usually relevant even in today’s economy and … Continue reading →

The Art of Family Storytelling

Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the nuts and bolts of genealogy research – the names, dates, and records that you painstakingly search and record in order to preserve your family’s history for future generations. There are many other aspects of genealogy, and today I would like to take a closer look at one that is becoming a lost art – family storytelling. The phrase “family storytelling” may bring back memories of those times that your Grandpa got that twinkle in his eye and began to tell his most recent hunting story or the time when your … Continue reading →