Create Your Life Story : Helping You Record a Lifetime of Stories

Episode 62 : Fear of Your Life Story


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Are you fearful of telling your story, or just a little shy?
In this episode of Create Your Life Story I want to open a conversation about the reasons for people not wanting to tell their stories, particularly when they say that they are interested.
In recording conversations for Your Story, I’ve noticed several, sometimes contradictory reasons why people avoid wanting to have their story recorded.

* Private personality.
* Too long to think about it prior to recording.
* Not enough time to think about it prior to recording.
* Get bored with the idea.

And I can guess a few more…


* Don’t realise the importance of their story.
* Don’t think they have anything to say.
* Don’t feel that they can express themself.
* Don’t want to have to face particular topics.
* Ashamed of some aspects of life.
* Involved in illegal or criminal acts.
* Don’t want to spoil their projected persona.
* Don’t want to harm others with information.


I also realise that some of the stories aren’t told because of the feeling of the possible judgement by others. But have you noticed that you don’t have those same judgements of people of previous generations.
Something happens with the passing of time that removes that sting of judgment and evolves it into historical knowledge. If we consider the issues that we’re concerned about, is it possible for us to have the same attitude now of, not judging others and allowing ourselves to tell some of the more delicate stories, knowing that time will also remove any judgement?
I mention in this episode that fear is something that is always about the future and when it comes time to do the thing that we’re fearful of it’s never as fearful but often a positive experience or at least something that is just dealt with.
I also realise that there could be impacts on people who are now involved with this information, making it necessary to be careful of harming others. This is why there are often delayed release of information so as not to cause this harm but still allow the historical knowledge to be shared into the future.
This is a huge topic that I would love your advice on, to help us understand why people don’t want to share information despite saying that it’s something that they want to do.
How can we help people to feel comfortable enough to open up, not be fearful and share their stories? Please share your thoughts below in the comments, I know I don’t have the answers but maybe you do…
Interesting Links from this Post

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Create Your Life Story : Helping You Record a Lifetime of StoriesBy Ian Kath