Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 1 May 2016.<\/p>\n
I think it\u2019s important to reflect on why we do this thing called genealogy.\u00a0 Take a moment before reading further and get ideas of what is important to you about our discipline.<\/p>\n
I identified five factors that are relevant to me. \u00a0The first thing that comes to my mind is discovery<\/u>.\u00a0 \u00a0Genealogy unlocks events involving real people whose decisions impacted me personally and continue to do so, even today.\u00a0 Think of your Gateway Ancestors.\u00a0 Their choice to uproot and start a new life on a new continent directly influenced who you became.\u00a0 That emigration may have occurred 400+ years ago or much more recently.\u00a0 Why did they come?\u00a0 Oh sure, for a better life, duh!\u00a0 No, I want to discover what was the final event, the straw that broke the camel\u2019s back, that made them say, \u201cEnough already, we\u2019re out of here!\u201d<\/p>\n
Discovery leads me to think about another reason why our work is important.\u00a0 Perhaps it was best said by George Santayana, \u201cThose who cannot remember the past<\/u> are condemned to repeat it.\u201d [1]<\/a>\u00a0 Let\u2019s not look at the big historical picture but instead, narrow it down to your own family.\u00a0 If your parents are deceased you most likely know what was the cause of death. \u00a0 If not your parents, think of your grandparents. \u00a0It may have been due to lifestyle and that knowledge can be important in regards to your own health.\u00a0You can make a change by simply knowing what had been. \u00a0Very powerful!<\/p>\n Remembering leads me to honoring<\/u> those that came before us.\u00a0 I have a much more privileged life due to my ancestors\u2019 resolve and I appreciate their gift to me immensely.\u00a0Since I can’t personally let them know I write about their impact and record their contributions in my public tree. \u00a0It’s small, really, considering how much they did.<\/p>\n I am, by nature, an impatient person. \u00a0I get an idea and run with it. \u00a0Genealogy is the antithesis of that nature. Patience<\/u> is critical in this field. \u00a0Brick walls do come tumbling down and like earthquakes, there’s no way to predict when that will occur.<\/p>\n The last factor for me is that genealogy is empowering<\/u>. \u00a0When I learn about events that my ancestor’s lived through I am reminded that the small trials and tribulations that I experience aren’t so awful. \u00a0I live in Florida and our air conditioner is on it’s last leg. \u00a0It is very very warm as a I write this, uncomfortably so. \u00a0Being warm is so unimportant compared to fires, epidemics, and the hot topic of discrimination that my predecessors experienced I’m almost thankful it’s just a bad a\/c unit in my life. Knowing that I come from a long line of strong individuals enables me to be more confident in knowing I can stand what life throws at me. [1]<\/a>\u00a0George Santayana. \u00a0The Life of Reason: Reason in Common Sense.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>Scribner\u2019s, 1905: 284.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 1 May 2016. I think it\u2019s important to reflect on why we do this thing called genealogy.\u00a0 Take a moment before reading further and get ideas of what is important to you about our discipline. I identified five factors that are relevant to me. \u00a0The first thing that comes to … Continue reading “Why Do We Do Genealogy? Your Input Needed!”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[288,290,292,293,291,289],"class_list":["post-305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trends-and-musings","tag-discovery","tag-empower","tag-genealogy","tag-honor","tag-patience","tag-remember-the-past"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=305"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":306,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305\/revisions\/306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogyatheart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nOn a different note, I’m looking forward to my upcoming road trip to Ft. Lauderdale to attend the National Genealogical Society’s Conference that begins on Wednesday. \u00a0If you’re planning on attending look for me and say hello – I’ll be wearing a yellow button that says, “Ask Me” and you’ll find me answering questions and serving as a room monitor. \u00a0If you aren’t able to make it, many of the lectures will be live streamed so visit the National Genealogical Society’s website for registration<\/a>\u00a0so you can view them.
\nDue to my upcoming travel, I’ll not blog on Thursday as I typically do but hope to resume next Sunday – same time, same place. \u00a0Happy Hunting!<\/p>\n