Memoir Benefits?
Here Are Five to Consider

Do you think it's a self-centered act to write or produce a memoir? We hear that from some people, but we don't buy it. There are tremendous gifts that arise from a memoir, benefits for you personally, for your family and for our world! Consider these five:

It's an enjoyable, life-affirming process for you.

When crafting a memoir, you re-live & reevaluate events, relationships and turning points. With perspective that can only be gained by "living forward, reflecting backwards," you reexamine your life and see just how far you have come, despite many challenges. Many find great joy in the memories and may also discover healing and peace.

Plus, it's a rewarding process to create something so tangible, so personal. You accomplish something that few in life have accomplished.

You give a gift to your family -- a meaningful, permanent legacy.

Through your stories and memories, you offer your family a greater sense of its roots and characteristics that flow through and connect generations. Even more important, your stories paint a portrait of you and how you came to be the person you are today, giving your family a much greater understanding and appreciation of the whats and whys and hows of you.

You keep other people's stories alive, too.

You are likely one of the last people alive with memories of your grandparents and perhaps even your parents. If you don't tell their stories, they are lost, period. We hear so often from people, "I wish I knew more about my grandfather or grandmother..." The interest is there, so it's up to you to fulfill it.

What you have considered a "normal life" is actually amazing to your family.

You live in an interesting time, when lifestyle, technology, travel, careers, homemaking, child rearing and education are changing at lightning speed. You can give your family, especially the younger ones, a window onto how much things have changed, and to a degree, how some things haven't changed at all. Your children and grandchildren will be amazed at how foreign parts of your life seem to them.

You have valuable perspective that the world needs to hear.

You are an eyewitness to history as it unfolds. Your life is taking place during critical, groundbreaking events and the list is amazing: the Great Depression, World War II, the race to space, the Civil Rights movement, unrest in the Middle East, and on it goes. Your memories, experiences and perspective will only be added to our collective knowledge if you choose to share and preserve them.

Whether you are exploring a memoir for yourself, your parent, grandparent, or other loved one, these five benefits hold true for all. You may find that your loved one needs to hear these benefits to help them see howthey and their family will benefit.

Return to the Top of Memoir Benefits page.

Go to the Home page.