Journeying through spiritual beliefs in memoir

Posted on February 27, 2010 by moonbridgebooks

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=cherrybloss03-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0306818043&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifrBrenda Peterson spent her childhood in the wilderness, growing to love nature with her park ranger father but influenced by her family’s strong Southern Baptist belief that the world was just a temporal realm until they were taken away in The Rapture. After struggling with what she calls the paradox of just that place of waiting versus the divine wonder of the earth, the forest won her spiritual heart. “If we looked at the earth as more divine, we would take care of it,” Peterson said, explaining her combined belief in spirituality and environmentalism. To her, waiting to “go home” and her family’s excitement about signs of trouble on earth did not make sense.

Peterson’s book I Want to Be Left Behind: Finding Rapture Here on Earth is an example of memoir as spiritual journey. Peterson uses humor, respectful dialogue and her work with wildlife to keep reader interest as she struggles with conflicting views and family pressure to find her way through fog and into light. She leaves a trail that can inspire others to study and think their way through their own spiritual struggles, or to remember their past struggle and to write it down for their own children. Even those who have not particularly struggled with God and religion can include the why’s and where-for’s of their beliefs in their life writing. Our spirituality is part of who we are – and even hardened atheists have their story.

Here is an excerpt from I Want to Be Left Behind: Finding Rapture Here on Earth

Disclaimer: A number of my relatives are devout Southern Baptist, but none are “Rapturists.” Those preparing for The Rapture are a small minority of very conservative evangelist Christian believers.

Linda Austin
“Cherry Blossoms in Twilight”
http://www.moonbridgebooks.com
Posted in capturing memories | 2 Comments

Remembering stories? Just write!

Posted on February 14, 2010 by moonbridgebooks

At church today, Pastor Sue told one of her wonderful stories about her grandparents’ farm in West Virginia. Sue is a great storyteller, so I could just see the big, plodding white horse, “Old Dick,” standing patiently while being harnessed to the hand-held plow, then working as a team with Sue’s grandfather who shouted “gee” and “haw” while steering his old friend through the fields. No reins were needed, the horse knew what was expected through years of work. The grandparents may have been poor subsistence farmers growing the “tobaccy” cash crop while keeping an acre or so planted for vegetables that would be put up to keep them through the winter, but they were rich in stories of the culture of that time and place. Obviously they made an impression on their granddaughter, and are now making an impression on the members of our church.

Still basking in the beauty of that story of old-time plowing, reminding us to hitch ourselves to Jesus and plow love, I asked Pastor Sue after the service when her memoir was going to be finished. And, like most people, she hadn’t really thought about actually writing down those stories about her grandparents. She even has quite a story about herself.

Start writing NOW! Most of us can use a computer to type, but even hand-writing the stories into a notebook or journal is more than fine. My stepmom has been typing her memories as they come to her, sending them out as emails to her family. Hopefully she will collect them into a book of essays, adding scanned photos and maybe a list of important family dates. How simple is this? No excuses, anyone can do it. So get going. Just write!

Linda Austin
“Cherry Blossoms in Twilight”
http://www.moonbridgebooks.com
Posted in capturing memories, memoir writing | Comments Off on Remembering stories? Just write!

Windows Movie Maker makes you look professional

Posted on February 7, 2010 by moonbridgebooks

I’ve had too many projects on my plate lately so this blog has sat by the wayside. One of my projects this weekend is beginning the edit process on four tapes of a life story interview. My subject is a 90-year-old Japanese-American woman who was interned in Arkansas during WWII and returned to Japan as a “foreigner” immediately after the War. Editing something this long is a very tedious chore, and I’ve procrastinated on the project for quite awhile. Fortunately, this woman is a born storyteller so hearing pieces of her story over and over again hasn’t been too mind-numbing for me, and, fortunately, I know how to wield the magic of Windows Movie Maker.

You, too, probably have Windows Movie Maker on your computer. Macs have their own version called iMovie. These programs allow you to easily clip pieces out of a video, paste them in any order, add interesting transitions between clips, and add music. My video camera (the old-fashioned kind using mini tapes) comes with editing software which I use to roughly cut clips out of longer recordings and move into a folder in the My Videos file. Short clips can be moved whole. I also move into that folder any still photos I want to use along with mp3 music clips. The .avi video clips, digital photos (or jpg scans), and music can then be imported into a new Windows Movie Maker file. In Show Storyboard mode, drag the pieces into order, choose transitions and special effects, and add a title page. In Show Timeline mode, video can be trimmed from front or back, the length of viewing of each photo can be set. Finally, drag music to wherever you wish, change volume if needed, trim the clip from front or back to fit with the video as desired. Don’t forget to Save Project periodically while you are working on it. When all is set, Save as a Movie. You can upload this to YouTube or your website (or blog) or make a DVD.

I’ve become addicted to making movies and have a number of them on YouTube. St. Louis should pay me for making commercials of area attractions. I made the Cherry Blossoms in Twilightbook trailer on my website. But, the best use of Movie Maker is capturing fun times and life stories and sharing them with others in a very attractive format.

Linda Austin
“Cherry Blossoms in Twilight”
http://www.moonbridgebooks.com
Posted in capturing memories | Tagged | 3 Comments