Unlocking Your Legacy: How to Share Your Life Story with Ease
Guest Blogpost: Debbie Brodsky, Founder & CEO, DMB Pictures
Planning your estate can be an emotionally draining process. Of course, there are monetary and physical assets to consider. But there’s one asset only you can share that will be priceless for your family for generations to come: your story.
Capturing your story is an important part of the legacy planning process, yet many people feel overwhelmed at the prospect of starting a project like this. They don’t know where to begin or what to focus on. It’s hard to know what’s most meaningful or important to share.
We recommend using the four categories below as a starting point to organize your ideas and to serve as a checklist to minimize the overwhelm.
1. Family History
Your family history stories are the ones that give your family members a better understanding of where they came from, who they’re related to, where and how their ancestors lived, what relationships were like between family members, etc. Start by creating a family tree, writing down all the names you can remember and how each person connects. Add in details you can recall and how each person impacted your life. Focus on stories of overcoming challenges and adversity, as those are the ones that can provide the most meaning and understanding to your family. (Try https://www.familyecho.com for a free family tree resource.)
2. World History
Stories from your life that happened during important moments in history give context and meaning to world events, and connect future generations to them because you lived through them. Sharing “the way things were” helps the younger generations understand the evolution of things like technology and politics. Learning about history through real people, especially ones you are related to, is a powerful way to understand and keep the past alive. Some examples of this are sharing stories during the civil rights movement, World War II, or even something as simple as how people communicated before cell phones and the internet.
3. Values
When you reach a critical juncture in life and go down a particular path, that path you’ve chosen oWen has great meaning in your life and inspires your values. The turning points and obstacles in your life and how you handled them show what you value and what’s important. Those stories, in turn, share valuable life lessons and wisdom for future generations. Some ideas to think about when looking back at your life include stories like
how you chose your occupation, how you chose your spouse, or how you overcame a specific challenge in your life.
4. Your Essence
We are all unique and have different personality characteristics that make us who we are. Sharing a story or anecdote that in describing the story, shares the essence of who we are as a person, is a powerful way to be remembered. By sharing what we did, or how we reacted to something or handled certain situations, shares the true nature of our personality in some way. There are endless ways to tackle this part of your story, but some suggestions include describing how you started each day, sharing your favorite sayings, or including your philosophy of life.
Though a project like this can seem overwhelming, it can also be a lot of fun to relive some of your favorite memories, and comforting to know they will be shared with generations to come. If you have trouble starting on your own, ask a family member to assist you, or reach out to a professional personal historian. There’s no better time to start than today.
Learn more about DMB Pictures at www.dmbpictures.com.
