More Study – More Time on Books
I’m back doing more study. I am finding studying again quite time-consuming as I spend hours reading, studying. No surprise to me that I had to do it, but just finding it challenging. I am doing a course via Zoom from Canada. I have to be up every Saturday morning around 5 am ready to start.
One book has not arrived, but I am hoping it arrives this week.
About Dr James Birren
Dr Birren was an amazing Gerontologist and also the creator of Guided Autobiography, the program that I am doing from Canada at the moment. You can read all about him here.
I have been reading quite a lot about him.
When Will I Start GAB classes?
It is another 4 – 5 weeks before I will be qualified, and I am thinking of doing a small group from home. However, I don’t know where I will be living in 4 – 5 weeks time, so it is all “up in the air”.
I have also been exploring other ways to record life stories. Podcasting? All this at the moment is just thoughts, down on paper, but my uncertain housing is making it challenging to make any decisions. Perhaps today I will find some answers to some of my questions.
When Dr Birren created his program in 1970’s we did not have the technology that we do now. Digital voice recording, our mobile phones to record voice and video, and the programs to edit voice recording (Audacity), and more.
Recording Life Stories for History
To me, the most important duty is to record life stories for the future. Written, voice or video – it doesn’t matter. There are so many wonderful stories of “ordinary” and their lives that are vital to record for the future.
Once upon a time, a brief story would appear on a tombstone when someone passed away, but these days this is not done. Most people these days are cremated and their ashes scattered, with little or no record of their lives. Sad but true.
