Artist’s biographer urges you to tell your stories now.
Unanswered Questions
Lorraine McLoughlin
The yak butter in tiny squares sticks together at lunch in a village in land-locked Bhutan. Someone comments that she thinks they add salt. My mind flashes to memories of my mother churning milk on a remote Australian farm in the 1950s. Did she add salt to make butter keep? I assume so but I cannot ask her now. I can travel to exotic countries experiencing their rich cultures but there is no chance to ask my mother about the salt.
Many older people can relate to that; it’s too late to ask questions they now have about their youth. But do they, in turn, spare a thought for following generations? If they don’t leave some of their stories, their children and grandchildren will also know the frustration of not asking in time.
I urge people of all ages to tell their stories, to write down some of their memories and anecdotes. Start with a glimpse here and there, perhaps some paragraphs recalling events or situations, explanations and names to go with old photos, houses you’ve lived in or a few particular details of a different time. You can’t tell it all. If you include every detail and conversation, you and your reader will be bored, and you might die before you finish.
Be brave if not perfect. Have a go. Others might disagree with your version so be respectful but not put off. Then lighten up and enjoy the journey to places and times you’d thought forgotten. Yes, it may be confronting, sad even, but it will be pleasurable recalling your memories, and an enlightening experience for others.
Stories enrich a culture and yours are a worthy part of ours. It’s your life story and only you can tell it.
© Lorraine McLoughlin 2016.
First published in the Victor Harbour Times (South Australia).
Lorraine Mcloughlin is an author and biographer who lives in Yankalilla, South Australia. Her acclaimed books Barbara Robertson: An Australian Artist’s Life and George Tetlow and Mark and Jill Pearce: LIves in Art are sold on line and in art galleries.www.fitzmcl.com
Lorraine travelled to Bhutan with Writers Journey.
