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Health & Fitness

Capture a Memory: National Listening Day

Learn more about someone you love and create a memory this Thanksgiving weekend.

Once the holiday is over and you’re looking at the holiday weekend ahead, you might want to consider an alternative to “hitting the malls” on November 23rd.

Rather than shopping, why not celebrate the National Day of Listening and capture the thoughts and memories of a family member or friend.


The first National Day of Listening was launched in 2008 by the organization, StoryCorps.

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The idea is simple: Encourage listening to as well as capturing an interview with someone you love.  The project suggests that stories can be captured with pen and paper, cell phones, computers, tape recorders – anything which
will allow the story to be read or heard in years to come.

While you might be interviewing someone who can easily “open up”, here are a list of suggested questions developed by the folks at StoryCorps.

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What was the happiest moment of your life? The saddest?

Who was the most important person in your life? Can you tell me about him or her?

Who has been the biggest influence on your life?  What lessons did that person teach you?

Who has been the kindest to you in your life?

What are the most important lessons you’ve learned in life?

Are there any words of wisdom you’d like to pass along to me?

What are you proudest of in your life?

When in life have you felt most alone?

How has your life been different than what you’d imagined?

Do you have any regrets?

Is there any message that you’d like to leave for your children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, or for future generations yet to come?

Is there anything that you’ve never told me but want to tell me now?

Is there something about me that you’ve always wanted to know but have never asked?

 

For information including a Do-It-Yourself interview guide with equipment
recommendations and interview guidelines, nationaldayoflistening.org.

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