Sydney School of Arts & Humanities
Impressions
No 2 - 2025
ISSN 22093265
I thought dinosaurs were extinct, but then ... look what I found!
We go to an awful lot of time and effort searching for months, even years sometimes, in hopes we will find their fossilised remains to be carefully examined and preserved in our museums. There is something inherently human in our need to never lose sight of these amazing beasts, as if their fate is forever tied up with ours, especially as we face the consequences of our own making.
The catastrophe that was about to unfold began one morning in early spring some 66 million years ago. Dinosaur babies staying close to their mothers' sides as they foraged for food, others heading for the river to drink and wash their huge bodies or tend to their wounds from the previous day’s encounters.
Huge Flying dinosaurs gliding overhead through the pristine air. 'Oh, isn’t this marvellous! What a beautiful place to roam and multiply our species!'
What they did not know was that a huge asteroid from a gravitational interaction with giant Jupiter was now on a collision course with earth and that within a matter of minutes the world they had lived happily upon for thousands of years was about to undergo a change so deadly it would completely wipe them out.
With lightning speed, as quiet as it was silent, the huge asteroid hit the Yucatan region in what we now call Mexico, setting off a 10-metre high seismic wave.
Within a few minutes this wave of extreme heat, not unlike the heat from molten rock, incinerated everything for miles around.
The eco system was completely destroyed along with the dinosaurs, their fossilised bones impacted by the blast in such a way that palaeontologists have no doubt as to the force of this deadly event.
The nuclear winter that followed lasted for thousands of years, with only those smaller animals who could burrow deep into the earth's surface escaping the fallout.
It's hard for us to imagine such an event happening today and yet when we watch images on our screens of the wild fires around the world - sudden devastating floods and cyclones - we have a small glimpse into the vast natural forces at work in the universe.
The warning: never get too comfortable!
Story credits:
Text: Meg Mooney
Photos: C V Williams
You’ve learned valuable lessons through hardships and joys, and others could learn about how to deal with the ups and downs of life by reading about your life.
Learn how to write your own life story
These days it seems as if publishing your life story is easier than ever. Until you look into it, and then it can get quite confusing, with false hopes that self-publishing is the way to go. It's not. Meanwhile, other people wait on for months – and in some cases even years – to hear back from a publisher. The difficulty of completing a story can seem like a mountain to climb! Even a story intended just for your loved ones, without any plans to publish. As an experienced writing teacher and life writing specialist, I can guide you through the process so you can complete your very own life story for family or friends.
We'll guide you through YOUR LIFE STORY on a week-by-week basis ...
You may have tried writing before ... You can often start off full of enthusiasm but soon find that making sense of your past and writing it in an easy-to-understand order is harder than you think. (PS That’s why editors were invented!)
Most people start out thinking it’s easy to write a story and turn it into a book. And I agree that it should be a lot easier than it is. But if you’re looking at a quality story, there’s a lot that goes into producing that story for others to read – whether just for family and friends or for wider publication.
FIRST: there’s telling the full story
SECOND: there’s making sure the quality of three basic elements – grammar, punctuation and narrative – is up to scratch or publication standard. So that it’s accessible, it’s easy to read.
And the fact is, most people are keen to begin writing – but they get tired. It’s understandable. But it’s also such a pity to begin and then give up – considering that completion of your life story is such a valuable gift for others. Especially for your children and grandchildren – and even further down the line, your descendants to follow.
Life is changing so fast, most children don’t even understand the idea that you would write a letter and send it by airmail across the world. To them, emails always existed. Instant gratification instead of waiting weeks to hear back from a loved one.
And it’s so hard to tell people about ‘how it used to be’. Life is so fast. ‘Boring!’ they think, and rush out the door.
But your story is NOT BORING! You may have been an immigrant and had to learn new ways and ‘fit in’ to a whole new society. You may have been born here but have seen so many changes in your lifetime you’ve had to adjust to, that young people just don’t realise.
You’ve learned valuable lessons through hardships and joys, and others could learn about how to deal with the ups and downs of life by reading about your life – in their own time, that is when they have time. Perhaps even after you’ve passed away and they regret that they didn’t spend more time with you while you were alive and full of vigour.
All the more reason to ACT NOW to set down your life in story – while you can.
My Life Story Project makes it easier for you to achieve it through your own writing using our techniques and tools, such as:
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1-on-1 ONLINE ADVICE as well as group assistance
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Templates to guide you through the complexity of your life
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ONLINE WEBINARS you can tap into whenever it suits you
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A week by week timetable with questionnaires to guide you along the way
Your whole life written and recorded for posterity in as little as 8 weeks. And if that timetable seems too pressing, you can opt for a more leisurely stroll down memory lane! Write your own story in your own words just for family and friends. Then once you've completed your life story you can decide whether to go on to publish more widely or you are happy to just share with loved ones.
TESTIMONIALS
'Thank you, Christine – I really appreciate how this has been edited, retaining the essence but providing the relevant clarification.'
Nicky Gluch
'My gratitude to Dr. Christine Williams who has been a wonderful teacher and mentor. She believed in the concept of my book and it is greatly appreciated.'
Sara Roney
'I can say that you have a bountiful supply of courage and truth-telling and many future readers will benefit as a result.'
Wil Roach
'Thanks so much for the comments. They will give me plenty to think about on my drive today through some high mountain passes. I am hoping the drive will trigger more memories for the next phase of writing'
Ihlara Bassland
You Won't Be Alone
I'll be here to assist you
As Lead Mentor for My Life Story Project, I spend the major part of my working week mentoring and advising participants who are seriously focused on writing their own life stories.
It's an enjoyable two-way process which builds confidence for participants in the approach they take to telling stories in their own voice.
BIO
Dr Christine Williams' work interests have been in the field of writing for over thirty years.
She has written major biographies published by mainstream publishers in Australia, Great Britain and India – alongside careers as a university lecturer and teacher of community writing groups, as well as a journalist. Her latest project comes out of her understanding that everyone has a story to tell that is worth reading.
Through her mentoring, Dr Williams came to a realisation that the best way to encourage others to write their ‘living knowledge’ was through a planned program of stimulus and response. Using a reliable framework to approach the daunting task of writing one’s own life story – whether memoir or autobiography – has delivered remarkable results.
Writers work so much more confidently, in finding their own unique writing voice, through the process of being mentored by an experienced writer and teacher. The same principles apply to everyone starting out to write their own story. My Life Story Project has harnessed those principles, making them available through online programs, templates, IT tools and mentoring techniques.
The author of four biographical works and a short story collection, Dr Williams wrote the first biography of novelist Christina Stead. She has had a special interest in memoir, relationships and identity in life-writing, having researched the life of the Indian philosopher, Jiddu Krishnamurti, to gain a Doctorate of Creative Arts from the University of Technology, Sydney. She also holds a Master of Arts from the University of Sydney. Writing across a range of genres, Dr Williams won a State History Fellowship and continues to have short stories published in academic journals and the mainstream media. She writes under the names Christine Williams and C V Williams. Christine will help you realise your dream to write your very own unique life story.