During the holiday season we often have an opportunity to spend time with relatives we don’t see often, and perhaps make special efforts to visit the elders of our clans whether that means going over the river and through the woods or driving to the nursing home.
If you can do so, this season spend a little extra time with that unique family member and participate in the StoryCorps Project’s National Day of Listening. Originally set for Thanksgiving Day, The National Day of Listening is continuing throughout the 2008 holiday season! Visit with that beloved relative, mentor or hero. Record the stories you have heard time and time again so that your children and theirs can also hear them. Just listen closely and ask the questions you’ve always wanted to ask.
Preserving family cultures and traditions is such an important part of history. Start a new holiday tradition and record a conversation. There’s no wrong way to do it. Just listen…and be sure to push the record button!
StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit project whose mission is to honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening. StoryCorps is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind, creating a growing portrait of who we really are as Americans. Check out their website: http://www.storycorps.net/about
Here is a link to the National Day of Listening website. There you will find a Do-It-Yourself guide with tips and suggestions to help you get started. Create that special heirloom this year. It costs very little…just your time.
The gift of listening is one of the most valuable gifts you can give. Happy Holidays.
(Posted by Karen)
