#18: 10 Quotes to Motivate You with Writing Your Family Stories

Ready to unlock the innate storyteller within you?  We kick off this episode with a sprinkle of inspiration, presenting you with 10 profound quotes from renowned figures. These pearls of wisdom will act as your launchpad, propelling you into the narrative universe of your life and family history. And remember to check out our Facebook and Instagram, where I've prepared some beautiful quote images for you to save or share!

The voyage doesn't stop here. Together, we'll sail through the sea of our past, guided by our ancestor's wisdom. I'll share a deeply personal tale about a discovery in my grandmother's journal and emphasize why it's so crucial to capture our stories before they're lost. This part of our journey is a call to action, pushing you to document your experiences, trials, and triumphs. Let's embrace the power of empathy and understanding others' viewpoints - these are gifts, not drawbacks.

As we navigate towards the end of this episode, we'll delve deeper into the significance of personal storytelling. We'll discuss the unifying power of shared narratives, their role as memory aids, instruction manuals, and moral compasses. I'll share some personal tips on defeating the dreaded writer's block and finding your story's inspiration. We'll also shine a light on the importance of preserving the past with stories, guiding you towards resources to assist you in your journey. So, are you ready to bring your personal stories to life? Let's harness the power of storytelling together!

Related Blog Post can be found here!

This group is for people who are in the process of writing their own personal stories to preserve their past for their future. It’s a place to come for story writing inspiration, weekly writing-related events and memes, and continued support from me and the other members.

Join like-minded people and get your stories down on paper for your future generations!

Transcript

Melissa: 0:01

Welcome to the Preserve your Past podcast, where we'll explore all things related to the creative process of writing your stories for future generations.

Melissa: 0:10

I'm host host elissa Ann Kitchen, author, teacher, speaker and coach. I believe that your personal history is a priceless gift for family, friends and generations to come, whether you consider yourself a writer or not. We are discussing the topics that help with every step of the process, like how to mine for the juiciest story ideas or how to refine them into polished final drafts you'll be proud to share. Let's face it sure, your stories can be overwhelming, but I've got you covered. We all have a lifetime of memories to share, so why not save yours to pass along? Let me help you leave your lasting legacy. Welcome back, everybody, to the Preserve your Past podcast. Today we're going to talk about one of my guilty pleasures. It's one of my favorite items that I use as a writing prompt and that is a really juicy quote. I'm very grateful that quotes don't take up much space in my closet or under my bed because, honestly, the truth is, I am quite the quote collector. Some may even say I'm a little out of control, but I disagree. I really feel like there's nothing like reading a few words or sentences, set between quotation marks, that speak straight to your heart, and while they may be removed from a larger piece of work and maybe they even have a little bit of a different meaning than the larger piece of work, I think a really good quote can stand on its own and it feels like poetry to me. I feel like there are little boosts of wisdom and inspiration and I feel like when you see just the right quote at just the right time, it is a little piece of art that can change how we feel about something, how we think about something. It can inspire us, it can validate us. So I just feel like it's an amazing little burst right, a little boost. You can collect quotes just for the message they offer on their own right. So, like, collecting quotes for inspiration daily is perfectly acceptable, especially now that I've come out as my quote collector.

Melissa: 2:33

But sometimes I choose one, or even more than one, as a launching point for a blog post or even a story. So as I was preparing for this podcast today, I was thinking about what could I use for inspiration myself. Was there a quote that I had seen or something I had read that would inspire me on the post, and then I realized it was about sharing how you, too, could use a quote as an inspiration. So then I got to thinking what if I could find quotes to share with you that would inspire you? So today may seem a little over the top, but I couldn't help myself, and as I was looking for inspiration, I actually came across several quotes and I couldn't choose just one. So today I'm going to be sharing 10 quotes that I believe will help motivate you to get started writing your personal and family stories, because that's what I'm here for let's get you started writing. So keep an eye on my posts on Facebook and Instagram, at Melissa Loves History, because I have created lovely images for each of these quotes that you can save to your photos on your phone or you can share yourself on social media or use them to inspire your writing. So if I interviewed these 10 people that are going to be responsible for these quotes and I asked them for a quote that would help motivate you to get started with your writing, what would they say?

Melissa: 4:12

The first quote comes to us today from Robin Moore, and Robin says I quote inside each of us is a natural born storyteller waiting to be released. End quote. This one was an obvious one for me to pull in here, because I couldn't agree more. Part of what defines my purpose in this endeavor is that I believe that all of us have stories that are worth telling and that we are the ones to tell those stories. So many of my listeners and readers that I speak to feel hesitant to begin, often because they don't consider themselves to be writers. But, just as Robin Morse says, we all are natural born storytellers. As humans, we want to be seen and understood, and sharing our stories is one way we can make that happen.

Melissa: 5:05

Number two's quote comes to us from Jim Neal Smith, and Jim says quote we are all storytellers. We all live in a network of stories. There isn't a stronger connection between people than storytelling end quote. Again, here's another quote reinforcing that we are all storytellers. But what I also love about this particular quote is the idea that we all live within a network of stories. Think of how cool that is. So as we tell our family stories, we tell our own, and as we tell our own stories, there will be many others in our lives families and friends whose stories will also be told within our stories, who are also telling stories and we're a part of their stories. So as we live through these stories of our lives, we make connections with others, and those connections become quite clear when we start documenting those stories. This is why I believe stories can be such great gifts, like literal gifts to give. If there isn't a stronger connection than storytelling, how can you strengthen your relationships, show your love and appreciation and how much someone means to you, more so than through your stories?

Melissa: 6:28

Quote number three comes to us from Graham Greene. Graham says quote there is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in end. Quote. I have personally used this prompt in writing as a writing prompt of my own and I encourage you to do the same, because when you look back on your life, you can look back to see what were the moments when the door opened and let in the future, what were those times when you made a decision that changed everything. It's easier for us to look back on those nows and see when that moment was that it happened. So what occurred in the past? That was the seed that grew into your present. Sticking close to this quotation, I would start early in childhood. I would look at the moments that you first start remembering when something changed and opened up a whole new chapter in your life, and then look through chronologically for other moments as you grew, and the number of stories you could write from just this one prompt is endless, because we all can look back in hindsight and see those little moments where something shifted, enabling a greater outcome or challenge in our life.

Melissa: 7:48

Now we are on to number four, and number four comes to us by Morgan Harper Nichols. Morgan says, quote tell the story of the mountain you climbed. Your words could become a page in someone else's survival guide. End quote. This quote is also a powerful writing prompt. Remember, as we think about writing our stories and bridging our past and our present, or our past and our future, that your stories are not just a way to document our own history, but they can also be used to pass along lessons you've learned. Now they're not going to cause people to not have their own lessons, but how validating is it when you're going through a challenge? And you can see someone went through a challenge also. So what are the moments that you climbed, what are the challenges you faced that you never thought that you could write about Because you just took them for granted. Write those stories down. There will be someone who will be facing their own challenges, who will look to your stories of your challenges and survival and benefit from the hope that they too may survive. The interesting part of this is that we may never know who it will be that will benefit from these stories. But I can think of many times in my own life where I read a story of someone in the past and I saw myself in my own situation in their story and thought if they could do it, so can I.

Melissa: 9:21

I shared in a previous podcast about finding a journal of my grandmothers and the timing that it came about was when I was still home, out of work full-time, recuperating from a very serious fall that I needed to have reconstructive surgery on my elbow and I was miserable and I was whiny and I really was feeling like, is this ever going to pass, while my elbow ever be the same and pretty much just miserable. It was winter time, it was just everything about it was making me very whiny and Honestly scared. Could I survive this? Not survive, but would I be the same? Would I be okay? And as I was going through this, my aunt shared a journal entry from my grandmother's one line a day Journal and it was from when my grandmother was in her twenties and it was her going through an illness and it was christmas time and it was. She had thought she had been feeling better and it was just the. You know, she reported on the weather. The weather was winter, it was cold, it was miserable, and she felt awful and she felt tired and she was like what, what? I'm just gonna go lie down. You know, there's nothing here for me, I just need to sleep and that's so it be right.

Melissa: 10:42

And my grandmother was not that kind of person I talk about this in the other podcast to. She was just that person I knew was very Strong and resilient and took control of situations and kind of no nonsense. So for me, to see the my grandmother's voice Come through with that like what was me and very dramatic way of like it's just is what it is and I maybe I'll never, you know, get through this it made me realize, you know that, that I'm human and I could see her challenge of feeling that way and find validation in mine and realize how far she came from feeling that way and know that like, yes, it's okay to feel Fragile, to feel overwhelmed, to feel injured, right, but the healing part of hope and knowing that my grandmother had been through a really actually worse illness and had come through the other side to be so sturdy and why is and the woman she became so that was a nice story to have at that time. So again, I challenge you to share your mountains that you climbed so that other people can learn from them. The next quote is from a character in to kill a mockingbird at a kiss finish, and in the story of to kill a mockingbird at a kiss says quote you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it. And quote Now, from a young age I remember having a really hard time anytime I had to pick sides or make decisions or like choose between things, because I was always able to see things from many viewpoints.

Melissa: 12:35

It was, like I said, as a weakness. I was essentially trying to put myself in everyone else's shoes. I could always see it from a different point of view and at that age when I was feeling that way, I felt overwhelmed by, also felt like I was with she, was she that I couldn't commit, that I didn't have a background, but as I get older and I realized who I was as a person, I started realizing that this indecision was really About not choosing sides, because I was always able to have empathy for others. I always tried my best to see what it was like from someone else's viewpoint, from someone else's shoes. Now, when I read this quote as I was gathering these for this particular podcast, I realized that reading this exact quote for the first time in high school might have been one of the first times that I was able to see that what I thought and how I behaved was not a fault but was an actual gift.

Melissa: 13:38

And I'm not saying that we can always understand someone 100% by putting ourselves hypothetically in their shoes or in their skin, but I do believe it's a really strong place to start and I really believe that. I think that there's an important piece of looking at historical stories, whether it's our ancestors or historical figures, but really going into them and understanding the situations that existed within a very different time. And so, as we look at those stories, we do need to remember to put ourselves in the point of view in which they lift, and not to make assumptions or judgments from where we Are now, because I think there's so many things that were very different when we, depending on how far past you know how far past things are, but I do think that we could rush to assumptions and think we know someone really well until we really look further into what was happening at that time and what was happening to that person. And again, I think this can be a key way of functioning in life with other human beings, because everyone's going to only have their perception of what's happening on the world and we all make Our choices, and the things that come out of our mouth, what we say, what we do, is from those experiences. Stories that share other points of view are treasures. There's nothing like finding something written in the words of someone you love who is no longer with you, and hearing their voice in the writing is priceless. So now we are up to number six, and the quote that I'm going to share now is by William Zinsser, and he said quote memories too often die with their owner and time too often surprises us by running out. End quote.

Melissa: 15:35

So many of you have already heard my why I share my stories and the stories of my family, because I did not have my parents' stories. In their own words, my parents were in their thirties and forties when they passed and I have surpassed their ages now and I still feel like I have lots of time to tell my stories. But I know that we never know how much time we will have to get those down on paper or to share them with others. So I say there's no time like now to begin writing those stories down. We don't want to make assumptions that we're times never going to run out, because all those memories are going to go with us. So again, this is my why I've talked about different stories that I don't have from my parents.

Melissa: 16:27

And when I interview guests on this show, one of my two questions I ask is first, what's a story that you don't have that you wish you knew? And another one is what's the story that you know you must pass along? And those questions really go to this idea of like memories are going to go with the owner. So if we haven't put those down on paper, they may never be known. And that's just to me is ugh, it just gets to my heart. It's one of my biggest whys of why I want you to write your stories now and let me help you do it. Like if that's overwhelmed. Let's work on this together. You have the podcast and the blog and my newsletters and some tools that I've done freebies, but let's get started doing it.

Melissa: 17:15

Okay, so that was number six, and now I'm going on to number seven who is also or not who, which is also by William Zinzer. William says, this time quote one of the saddest sentences I know is I wish I had asked my mother about that, or my father or my grandmother or my grandfather, and quote what more can I say? No further explanation is needed on this one. It says it quite clearly. It goes to the point I made before ask the questions, write the stories. And of discussion. Let's go on to number eight. This quote is by Alex Krotowski. Alex says, quote stories are memory aids, instruction manuals and moral compasses. End quote.

Melissa: 20:03

Now, as a public teacher for many years, I have always felt that stories were the best way that I could teach a concept, whether it was a math concept or a life lesson, whether it was an instructional manual, a fictional story, whatever it was, stories were the best way to reach our heart and teach a lesson. I think about some of the stories I used to use as an elementary school teacher and especially even ESL teaching middle school like early late elementary, middle school, fifth and sixth grade. Those kids still loved a good story and so when we would have issues with sharing or kindness or empathy, you could always find an amazing story to teach the lesson. One example of a story that I remember being really pivotal when I had first started teaching was the story of the rainbow fish. So the rainbow fish was a beautifully illustrated book by Marcus Feister, and so I loved the visual we.

Melissa: 21:08

I grew up on Cape Cod, near the ocean, but we my first teaching job was when we moved out west to Las Vegas and I worked for six years for Clark County school districts and so I was missing the ocean and so just the idea that this was the beautiful blues and green. So I love the artwork. There's some really pretty sparklyness to the illustrations, but the story was also really a beautiful tale in how we can give our light away and share with others and find happiness in giving things. So the rainbow fish is this beautifully has these rainbow, amazing beautiful scales and a little blue fish. One want, asked him for one of the scales and he's like heck, no, I'm the beautiful rainbow fish, and so it kind of swims away. But in that the blue fish kind of goes back to the rest of the fish and kind of talks about how, you know, the rainbow fish thinks he's better, wouldn't share, and so he ends up becoming shunned by the group and doesn't really have any friends and he finds wisdom in an octopus who kind of guides him on what he could do to become part of the community and a way to find happiness and really actually more appreciation for what was his strong point, right. So he initially gives one of his smallest scales away and then he starts seeing how happy he makes that little fish and how much it impacts him to see the joy that that giving allows him to feel this joy. And so now that fish is kind of sharing with the others and so the others are then, you know, interested and he starts sharing with everyone and by the end of the book everybody is happy, everybody is rainbowy and shiny and it's just a great story of sharing.

Melissa: 23:12

So that one I share, because the other piece of this that goes into my storytelling is that our first son was born when I was a teaching in Las Vegas and his bedroom the nursery was of the theme of the rainbow fish and it was nineties. So painting the rainbow fish across the wall was very nineties thing to do. I stenciled rainbow fish and made the bedding and we create, we found everything in that theme and so that was the theme of my son's first little bedroom in Las Vegas, of my first baby. So the rainbow fish yeah, that story meant a lot to me. So when thinking of how we can teach a lesson or a concept, whether it's our own stories or any kind of story, there's so much way we can use them to remember things. We can use them as instructional manuals, but also as moral compasses, as Alice Krotowski said. Okay, so now we have two more. So now I am up to number nine.

Melissa: 24:23

This is from one of my favorite storytellers of all time, paolo Coelho, and the quote is quote tears are words that need to be written, end quote. Now, like I said, he is one of my favorite storytellers and the thing I love about his stories is because within his stories, there are so many people sharing their stories, and this quote reminds us that not all stories have happy endings, and I talk about that in my book Bridging your Past and Future. Not all stories will be easy to write and not all stories are actually meant to be shared. Sometimes we might sit down to get our stories out and then decide that it's not for others. But writing our stories and writing those tears allows us to process the difficult feelings in a more healthy, profound way. So I think that we can always remember that sometimes we just need to get those tears down, and sometimes putting those tears on paper is important to share, and then other times maybe we're putting. The whole process is just to put those words down and get them from bouncing around inside of us, because holding in our feelings, not sharing them, can really cause the pain to feel worse and cause us to really focus on that without processing through it and letting it go. So I love that quote.

Melissa: 25:59

And finally, we're at quote number 10 by Garrison Keller that says quote a book is a gift you can open again and again. End quote. Now, this is like the perfect way to end this list, because this is the whole point of it all, like the idea of stories as a way to leave a legacy is spot on, and what better gift could you give than the gift of a story or a book filled with your essence? Think about how that would feel if you received that from your missing loved ones. Think of how your loved ones would feel if they could open a book of your words again and again. That is the point. We want to get these words down so that we can gift them and our loved ones can have that gift that keeps on giving. But a book never goes away, right? We can open it and we can read it again and they can be with us again. It's just a wonderful way of sharing our humanity, our personality, our memories, our life, our lessons, all of it, and I just love that it can be read many times and again and again. If I could sit down and read a book in my loved ones words and be able to go back and hear their voice what an amazing gift.

Melissa: 27:31

So I really do implore you to get started writing your stories. They don't have to be in a big book. The story itself and having it written down is a gift that you could give that could be opened again and again, and I will be sharing more on ways to encourage you to get ready. As I record this, we're in the beginning of October, but we will talk about, like, what can we do to get our stories ready, because possibly we could use them as gifts, and so we will have some future podcasts talking about ways that we can create gifts specifically from our stories as we count down to the holidays. So that is it, my friends.

Melissa: 28:17

We are at the end of our top 10 list of quotes, in no particular order. Except for that, I think the order helped tell a story. We started with looking at the fact that we are all storytellers and we kind of looked at the inspiration of why we should be the ones telling the story, that we're all the storytellers, that we're a part of network, that there's always a lesson that we can show in our stories, and as we went through, we realized in the end that it's a gift for us to be able to put those stories down. So I encourage you to go over to the social media platforms of Facebook and Instagram and friend me on Facebook and follow me on Facebook and Instagram, but check out those quotes, download the quotes, comment on them If you want to share them with others or if you have a screenshot or some kind of writing that you do with those quotes. I would love to see that.

Melissa: 29:19

The other thing I would love for you to do is to go over to the website and sign up for your free Family Tree Story starters and join the newsletter so you can get more tips like these quotes as inspiration, because in my newsletter I do share a tip of a writing prompt each week with you to get you started and some other cool little gifts and thoughts, and so I invite you to go over today to the website at Melissa and kitchencom and at the top you'll see free resource. This will take you to a page to sign up for the Family Tree Story starters and that puts you on my newsletter also, so you get your free story starters, which is getting you started. Remember that's this point of it let's get some stories down. But you'll also sign up to get my newsletter and weekly writing prompts and tools and tips and some more treats. So for my readers I love to put in little special writing prompts and treats. So join us on the newsletter list by heading over to Melissa and kitchencom and clicking for the free resource.

Melissa: 30:34

So thank you all so much again for joining me on the podcast and, as always, here's to writing your powerful personal stories. Wasn't that a fun episode. I enjoyed our conversation so much and if you would like to continue our conversation, be sure to follow this podcast and share with friends. This helped share the mission of preserving the past with stories. Want more tips, tools and inspiration? Head over to Melissa and kitchencom and, as always, let's get writing your powerful personal stories.