“The beauty of life is, while we cannot undo what is done, we can see it, understand it, learn from it and change. So that every new moment is spent not in regret, guilt, fear or anger, but in wisdom, understanding and love.” Jennifer Edwards Photograph © Janice Henshaw 2015 Drumbeg Park
Shaw TV Interview – How I became the Life Story Writer
There is no greater gift than sharing the experiences and wisdom of a lifetime with family and friends. How do family members know who they are if they don’t know where they came from – their roots? But the challenge is in getting started.
In his book On Writing Well author William Zinsser said:
One of the saddest sentences I know is “I wish I would have asked my mother about that. Or my father. Or my grandmother, or grandfather”…
It is sometimes difficult to write about yourself in a detached manner that provides an interesting read for others. Many people put off this activity and never find the time. With some encouragement and a good guide, however, it can be a pleasant, rewarding journey to tell your own unique story.
I live on Southern Vancouver Island and can travel to record your memories of past events and the people who have made your life special. In the comfort of your home this process will be relaxing and enjoyable. It will no doubt be fun too. We will add photos and special documents if applicable, and then we will have your story professionally printed. What a gift – for you, your family, the next generations, and friends – can you imagine holding the book in your hands, seeing it on your coffee table, in your bookcase, reading stories to your grandchildren? It will be much cherished.
How often have you wished that your forebears had left written stories of their lives? A family tree may appeal to some, and facts may appeal to others, but stories are how we get to know people and the times in which they lived.
You may not think you have led an exceptional life, but I am sure that through this process, you will end up thinking otherwise. You will have fun, perhaps shed some tears, and remember details you may have forgotten, but overall, you will be thankful that you made this journey into your past. It will be the creation of a special legacy for your sons and daughters, grandchildren and great grandchildren, or friends; they will be so grateful that your stories are preserved. Don’t wait – give me a call and let’s get started.
Family and Friends
If you are a family member or friend, here’s the most special gift you will ever find for your loved one. Give the gift of a life story book to a beloved parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle or friend.
Retirement Gift
A book of photos and stories from coworkers makes an amazing and unique retirement gift.
Your Company History
Make it work for you! A short publication packed with personal anecdotes and interesting photographs can be an ideal gift for clients, and a wonderful coffee table book in your office. Highlighting projects and giving clients the opportunity to learn more about the special people who work on them can be a determining factor in developing trust. Posting the business memoir to your website will make your company stand out from all the rest!
7 Days of looking for the light.
7 days of looking for the light – what a gift it has been in showing me how I can miss it. And if I am looking for it – how easy it is to find it. “Light is creation. Darkness is the space necessary to create.” ― Erica Jasmin Cartaya
Sweet Darkness – David Whyte
Sweet Darkness When your eyes are tired the world is tired also. When your vision has gone no part of the world can find you. Time to go into the dark where the night has eyes to recognize its own. There you can be sure you are not beyond love. The dark will be your […]
Quality Time – Breathe and Be
Do not be afraid of spending quality time by yourself. Find meaning or don’t find meaning but “steal” some time and give it freely and exclusively to your own self. Opt for privacy and solitude. That doesn’t make you antisocial or cause you to reject the rest of the world. But you need to breathe. […]
A new path – and sunlight in November
This has to be one of the most beautiful Novembers we’ve had in a long time. Today while walking I met the same fellow I met yesterday going to the park. But today I remembered to take off my bike helmet after my ride. I wonder what he thought yesterday seeing me walk Baloo along […]
Rail trail to Kimberley Aug 4 2012
Saturday August 4th Cranbrook I walked a good ways around Jim Smith Lake and wondered who he was. For breakfast, I cooked up blueberry pancakes with peaches. Then I read for a while and looking at the pine forest and breathing in the sweet air, I thought this moment, this experience is a pretty great […]
Rollick into 2016!
2016? How did this new year rollick around so fast? I’ve noticed as I fill out various applications or registration thingamabobs online that I have to scroll ever longer to find my age or birthdate. Sometimes I wonder if the descending numbers will stop before my time and instead of number choices like 20 -25 […]
Pebbles on a beach, each one different
In my wanderings, I leave behind what seems to be a beach full of mistakes. Sometimes I even admire their ingenuity, their colours, their unique shapes. For the most part though, I see and feel their darkness, their rough textures, and wonder at the extent of my unknowing. I taste the salty depth of […]
Leave the city of your comfort
“You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover is yourself.” ~Alan Alda Photograph © Janice Henshaw 2015
Freedom to change
There are as many worlds as there are kinds of days, and as an opal changes its colors and its fire to match the nature of a day, so do I.” ― John Steinbeck
When you are about to leave a place
You get a strange feeling when you’re about to leave a place. Like you’ll not only miss the people you love but you’ll miss the person you are now at this time and this place, because you’ll never be this way ever again. Azar Nafisi Photo ©Janice Henshaw 2016 Kinuseo Falls
The Gift of Love
“This is the miracle that happens every time to those who really love: the more they give, the more they possess.” Rainer Maria Rilke
Sweet fruit of decades of living
From “Life Gets Better” “The Unexpected Pleasures of Growing Older” by Wendy Lustbader “An unflappable inner stance is often the sweet fruit of decades of living. This does not mean the cessation of all doubt, but rather taking uncertainty in stride. We still get upset, but rarely does upheaval stir us to the core. Our […]
If, if, if….Good news, You will still be OK!
“P.S. You’re not going to die. Here’s the white-hot truth: if you go bankrupt, you’ll still be okay. If you lose the gig, the lover, the house, you’ll still be okay. If you sing off-key, get beat by the competition, have your heart shattered, get fired…it’s not going to kill you. Ask anyone who’s been […]
“To love is to be vulnerable”
“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up […]
“When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”
‘Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit. ‘Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. ‘When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.’ ‘Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,’ he asked, ‘or bit by bit?’ ‘It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘You become. It takes […]
What a joy it is to feel…
What a joy it is to feel the soft, springy earth under my feet once more, to follow grassy roads that lead to ferny brooks where I can bathe my fingers in a cataract of rippling notes, or to clamber over a stone wall into green fields that tumble and roll and climb in riotous […]
Early morning light on bamboo
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Martin Luther King, Jr.
We see in others who we really are
The way to real growth is not to become more powerful or more famous, but to become more human and more tolerant. ~Helen Steiner Rice **** Titles and fame are only accoutrements fragile and short in season like a maple leaf that floats gently in the fall breeeze. Looking in the mirror helps us to […]



















