The unexpected twists and turns of the family history project

I love the way that some pictures
capture a person's lifelong spirit. 

 Some years ago, I embarked on the family history project. My desire to begin this project was likely born out of the fact that I grew up listening to story after story about my large extended family's history. I was always intrigued by the stories that included countless connections of people to people, places to places, and events to events. And still today, the project is like a giant jigsaw puzzle as I tried to figure out how one piece of history fits to another. 

I know that I am not alone in this quest as many people are drawn to figuring out their family's past and all the stories that go with it. Each piece of evidence I uncover reveals new questions, connections, and mysteries too. What I didn't expect is how emotional this journey can be since some of the information you uncover is somewhat heartbreaking, troubling, or even frightening. Stories past reveal threads of joy as well as threads of struggle. Many of those struggles were rooted in the social fabric of the day. For example I'm noticing the differences between lives of married women versus single women, professionals versus servants, homeowners versus borders, and more. 

These stories complete with the goods and bads of life prompt you to determine your focus of the search. You have to answer the questions:  Why am I drawn to such a pursuit? What will I do with the information? Does this add value to life I lead today? What is the purpose of looking back in life--what promise does that hold for today and into the future?

In many ways, looking back has helped me to capture the strength of life that's possible. As I see trends of strong families, happy celebrations, good work, and investment, I note that these trends gave people joy and good living, and when I see trends of struggle, I recognize how some generations were able to accept or work against that struggle to make better, and that provides good direction for the future. 

I also notice the need for respect for one another and sensitivity to the unique paths each person takes--no two people have exactly the same strengths, opportunities, challenges, or life circumstances. Everyone's life is somewhat different. 

In all as I continue to research, I want to notice the following:

• The unique strengths, personality, life events, and investments of each person.
• The ways that person interacted with others. 
• How those people experienced and reacted to adversity.
• The attitudes and values that made them strong and successful as well as the attitudes and values that held them back. 

In the end, I hope that this project will provide interest, strength, and good ideas for living for me and for those I share the project with. So far, I the project has made me want to invest in family more, celebrate the good times, and work against social structures, policies, laws, and attitudes that hold people back and for those social structures, policies, laws, and attitudes that inspire people forward. 

I also want to steer clear of the actions that senselessly get in the way of good living--so many small and rather meaningless attitudes, decisions, and actions can cause damage to our lives, and in many ways these kinds of events can be avoided with a broader outlook about what's important, long lasting, and positive. 

For next steps, I'll continue to seek the story of the main characters of the past--those grandparents, great grandparents, and great great grandparents as well as their siblings, other relatives and friends. I'll seek to know about the places they lived and the interesting adventures they had as well as replicating those events in some ways in my own life. 

I'll read more about others who conduct this kind of research too to find out what they do with the knowledge and how that impacts their lives--that will be interesting to find out. This will be a positive journey if I direct it well. Onward.