http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog Hundreds of Essays and Interviews to Help You Read and Write Memoirs Tue, 15 May 2012 12:09:55 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 2006-2007 jerrywaxler@yahoo.com (Jerry Waxler) jerrywaxler@yahoo.com (Jerry Waxler) Self-help 1440 http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/podpress/images/LearnMemoirCoverFront-small.jpg http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog 144 144 Reading and writing memoirs. Record the Stories of Your Life, tips, how-to, memoir book reviews, by Jerry Waxler memoir, writers, self-help, book-reviews, essays Jerry Waxler Jerry Waxler jerrywaxler@yahoo.com no no http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/memoir-commune-civic-engagement/ http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/memoir-commune-civic-engagement/#comments Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:24:03 +0000 jerrywaxler http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/?p=524 Continue reading →]]> http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/memoir-commune-civic-engagement/feed/ 7 0:08:33 Frank Schaeffer's memoir reminds me that the solution may already be locked away in the memories of millions of boomers who at one time were an idealistic bunch, trying to find new ways to work together to solve the world's problems. By resurrecting[...] Frank Schaeffer's memoir reminds me that the solution may already be locked away in the memories of millions of boomers who at one time were an idealistic bunch, trying to find new ways to work together to solve the world's problems. By resurrecting our former passion for groups, we may be able to solve Robert Putnam's civic disintegration as well as the boomer drain on society. 60's, Boomers, Philosophy Jerry Waxler no no http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/hardship-stories-strength/ http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/hardship-stories-strength/#comments Wed, 03 Jun 2009 11:48:20 +0000 jerrywaxler http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/?p=509 Continue reading →]]> http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/hardship-stories-strength/feed/ 0 http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/interviewing-alzheimers/ http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/interviewing-alzheimers/#comments Tue, 19 May 2009 11:39:36 +0000 jerrywaxler http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/?p=499 Continue reading →]]> http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/interviewing-alzheimers/feed/ 3 http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/stories-wisdom-aging/ http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/stories-wisdom-aging/#comments Thu, 07 May 2009 12:36:12 +0000 jerrywaxler http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/?p=490 Continue reading →]]> http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/stories-wisdom-aging/feed/ 2 http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/senior-adult-storyteller/ http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/senior-adult-storyteller/#comments Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:10:10 +0000 jerrywaxler http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/?p=466 Continue reading →]]> http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/senior-adult-storyteller/feed/ 8 0:07:08 When I see wrinkles, around my own eyes or someone else's, I think of all the experiences hidden behind them, decades of life now strewn throughout the vast tundra of the mind. If only I could know those memories, they might teach me important lesso[...] When I see wrinkles, around my own eyes or someone else's, I think of all the experiences hidden behind them, decades of life now strewn throughout the vast tundra of the mind. If only I could know those memories, they might teach me important lessons and they certainly would bring deeper appreciation for the journey. What had those eyes seen? But memories are unknowable in their scattered and disorganized state, and until recently, I was one of the multitudes who had no inkling of how to convert a lifetime of memories into a story. Now, as I scan my life, I think I see the reason. Aging, Family Jerry Waxler no no http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/harry-bernstein-memoir-dream/ http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/harry-bernstein-memoir-dream/#comments Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:07:58 +0000 jerrywaxler http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/?p=286 Continue reading →]]> http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/harry-bernstein-memoir-dream/feed/ 1 http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/hair-in-the-melting-pot/ http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/hair-in-the-melting-pot/#comments Tue, 10 Jun 2008 11:15:21 +0000 jerrywaxler http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/?p=137 Continue reading →]]> http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/hair-in-the-melting-pot/feed/ 14 0:00:01 My dark brown hair grew longer, and curled into a tangle that looked vaguely like an Afro. Home from the University of Wisconsin that first summer of 1966, my great-uncle Ben, with whom I had always got along, said "I didn't know we had anything lik[...] My dark brown hair grew longer, and curled into a tangle that looked vaguely like an Afro. Home from the University of Wisconsin that first summer of 1966, my great-uncle Ben, with whom I had always got along, said "I didn't know we had anything like that in the family." We never spoke civilly to each other again. Back at school in Madison, Wisconsin the following year, some boys drove to campus to beat up kids who looked like me. They jumped out of their car, threw me to the ground and kicked me for a while to let me know that long hair was against the American way. Aging Jerry Waxler no no http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/my-niece-reminded-me-im-getting-old-ill-show-her/ http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/my-niece-reminded-me-im-getting-old-ill-show-her/#comments Thu, 21 Feb 2008 11:51:16 +0000 jerrywaxler http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/my-niece-reminded-me-im-getting-old-ill-show-her/ Continue reading →]]> http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/my-niece-reminded-me-im-getting-old-ill-show-her/feed/ 2 0:00:01 by Jerry Waxler (Listen to the podcast using the player control at the bottom of this post or download it with iTunes.) While searching the internet for my own last name, I found an article by a Caroline Waxler, about a television show “Mad Me[...] by Jerry Waxler (Listen to the podcast using the player control at the bottom of this post or download it with iTunes.) While searching the internet for my own last name, I found an article by a Caroline Waxler, about a television show “Mad Men” that shows office workers in the sixties. Caroline, who happens to be my niece, knew abstractly that women had come a long way but didn’t comprehend how far. Could it have really been that bad just a few decades ago? To find out she asked her mother. The discussion not only gave her deeper insight into the history of feminism. It also provided mother and daughter an opportunity to share their stories. The article was interesting to me, not only because Caroline is on the web. She’s always up to something. Her latest adventure is launching the website mainstreet.com, which manages to combine the seemingly unrelated world of celebrities and personal finance. The more interesting aspect of the article for me was that it challenged one of my basic assumptions about the transmission of human knowledge. Until I read the article, I assumed Caroline would have known exactly what life was like in the sixties. I had some vague notion that the information would ooze over to her through the media, discussions with older people, and her extensive education and reading. Now that I’ve thought it through more clearly, I recognize my folly. By the time she entered the business world, the behavior that shocked her on “Mad Men” was no longer just obsolete. It was illegal. Most of the upheaval took place before Caroline was born and was over by the time she was a little girl. As I thought about Caroline’s revelation that times have changed, I had a revelation of my own. Many powerful culture trends are obscure only a generation later. This simple observation offers me a new way to look at my past. Instead of seeing events through my own eyes, I gain fresh perspective by seeing my world from the point of view of a younger person who didn’t know my world. I brainstormed this notion and turned up a few scenes that I can add to my stack of vignettes. After a day at my all-boys high school, I took the subway to work at my father’s neighborhood drugstore in North Philadelphia. Family-owned drugstores and all-boys public high schools are nearly extinct. Occasionally I took the subway by myself into center city, and sat in the balcony of the Philadelphia Academy of Music to hear orchestra rehearsals, or went to the listening room of the main branch of the Public Library to hear classical music on scratchy 78 RPM records. On summer evenings, before we had air conditioners, our family sat on the patio of our row home and talked to the neighbors. One summer, when my brother Ed was home from college, we sat out on the porch and played chess every day. He was a nerd, too. While waiting for dinner I sprawled on the living room floor, reading the comic section of the newspaper. Our television was in the basement, which is also where Ed assembled a high fidelity amplifier he was going to take with him to his college dorm. I helped him by following the diagram and soldering transistors. I was a freshman in college when I first heard the word “marijuana.” I had no idea what it meant, and didn’t even know the concept of recreational drugs. As I look back through my life, I realize that culture is not a steady thing. The world around me has changed in small ways that gradually accumulate. Only when I look across a few decades do I see how the small changes added up to profound differences. A memoir is a perfect place to highlight these changes, explore them, turn them into stories, and share them with others. By striving to explain these differences more clearly, I can add depth that will help people learn about the past, while sharing the authentic world in which I lived. To listen to this blog, click on the podcast link below. Podcast v[...] Family, Narcissism Jerry Waxler no no http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/story-extends-my-optimism-to-infinity/ http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/story-extends-my-optimism-to-infinity/#comments Sat, 09 Feb 2008 13:41:47 +0000 jerrywaxler http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/story-extends-my-optimism-to-infinity/ Continue reading →]]> http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/story-extends-my-optimism-to-infinity/feed/ 4 http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/memoir-writing-is-a-step-along-my-spiritual-journey/ http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/memoir-writing-is-a-step-along-my-spiritual-journey/#comments Fri, 01 Feb 2008 14:19:36 +0000 jerrywaxler http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/memoir-writing-is-a-step-along-my-spiritual-journey/ Continue reading →]]> http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/memoir-writing-is-a-step-along-my-spiritual-journey/feed/ 4 0:00:01 by Jerry Waxler (Listen to the podcast using the player control at the bottom of this post. You can also download it using iTunes.) Now that I’m 60, I am facing an age when the end of the story seems to be shimmering out there on the horizon. [...] by Jerry Waxler (Listen to the podcast using the player control at the bottom of this post. You can also download it using iTunes.) Now that I’m 60, I am facing an age when the end of the story seems to be shimmering out there on the horizon. I’ve always been obsessed with who I am and where I’m going, and now I feel like I have a deadline. People often talk about the urgency of living each day as if it’s their last. This perspective is especially compelling when someone we know has recently departed. I too find a desire to live each day to its fullest. But my pressure arises from a slightly different reason. I ask, “What if I’m here until I’m 90? How will I live a meaningful life for another 30 years?” That’s a daunting task. And it turns out that memoir writing has become the center piece of my plan. By delving into the inner journey of who I’ve been, I’m learning more and more lessons about where I’m going. I recently gave a talk at a gathering at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Bethlehem Pennsylvania about using life stories to build a sense of purpose at any age. I didn’t give the talk during a worship service, and I’m not a preacher. This was an open meeting before the service, when people from the community come to listen to guest speakers talk about all sorts of topics. It was a perfect audience for my eclectic views on life, on memory, and on meaning. And during the three months I spent preparing the talk, I developed a neat way to explain how my life journey makes more sense than ever. It was ambitious of me to try to explain the meaning of life in 20 minutes, but I think I did a decent job. I’ll post the written version later. For now, I’m attaching the audio version. I’d be delighted to know what you think. — To see the written version of the talk I gave about how memoir writing enhances my faith in the future, see my blog entry by clicking here. To listen to it, click on the podcast link below. Podcast version click the player control below: Aging, Idealism/Meaning Jerry Waxler no no