Memoirs

 

I know of at least four people, around my age, that have written or are currently writing their memoirs.  I have already read one of them and look forward to the second that is currently in production.

Memoirs… hmmm… is this a trend?

I Googled “boomers writing memoirs.”  There is some buzz about folks my age writing memoirs.  Most of the websites talking about it were vanity presses that all seemed to be encouraging the trend.  They provided tips on what to do, how to do, and what rabbit holes to avoid.  Mostly, the vanity presses were most certainly offering to help publish the memoirs of a generation.

Why not write a memoir? Recording one’s thoughts for some small familial audience is a good thing.  There is no doubt some satisfaction in recording one's special memories, people who were major influences, a nemesis here and there, career achievements, hobbies, dreams achieved, and those that weren’t quite realized.  There would be reflections on one’s parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, favorite teachers, and mentors.  How does one view their own life?

Photos?  Sure.  Black and white snapshots from our youth must be included.  Our high school graduation photos are also a must.  Work photos?  Awards and achievements?  College, wedding, children, their weddings, grandchildren photos?  Absolutely.  All of the above.

As memoirs are crafted and published, everyone can sing their own version of Sinatra’s “I did it my way.”  We are each unique snowflakes after all.

Here are some questions I would address and like to see how others respond and reflect on our times.

Were we hippies?  Hippie wannabes?  Defiant preppies during those weird and turbulent times?  Did we go to Vietnam or did fate, luck, or whatever you want to call have other plans for us.  How did we navigate the generation gap, the sexual revolution, and all the movements from civil rights and women’s rights to gay liberation?  Is our music really that much better as we all profess than any generation since or before?

Did we change as we aged?  Did we sell out and become the man?  Did we become the establishment accumulating more things than any generation that ever lived?  What do we think about the crazy political polarization?  Climate change? 

I did try to get my peers to reflect on these questions in a spinoff of this blog.  I called it, Songs to Aging Children in homage to Joni Mitchell.  The idea for this came from this blog piece:  Was it the Weirdest of Times? I was very excited and truly believed it could be something special with people writing their own stories, their min-memoirs.  Alas and alack, the project was still born.  Only two friends wrote their stories.  I was a little disappointed.  Truth be told, it failed because I had no real marketing plan, probably because I have no marketing acumen. 

It might have just been a premature idea.

After realizing the writing of memoirs by my generation has become a trend, I had a nanosecond of wondering if I was missing out.  Maybe I should be writing a memoir myself.  Then, there was a big resounding “duh” in my head and realized that at least a third of this blog I have been writing for twenty years is a memoir.