Finally the podcast listen featured worked and I could listen this morning! Love how you are up front that the only way to understand an ancestor is writing a narrative. We also don’t talk enough about the ripples to the current day.
Thanks Denyse. I’m glad to hear I’m not alone in the belief that no matter how much research is done, the act of piecing together a story is where the truest understanding happens.
This is incredibly insightful. I can see how it would be/is more profound and meaningful to write only for yourself. But I also understand the release and excitement you must feel when finally getting to share a story you've researched for weeks or months. It's like the grand finale. The culmination. The icing on the cake.
By creating this podcast you have found a way to both honor your family member's wish to keep an ancestor's story private, but also feel a sense of excitement yourself by sharing just a shred of your private story publicly.
Note: "rippled through the generations" is extraordinarily descriptive.
I’m reminded of a piece I read awhile back about destroying personal journals to make sure the writing they hold remains private. As someone who has journaled for fifty years, I’ve spent a lot of time writing for myself. Often for clarity, but sometimes for connection, too, and there’s very little in my journals I’d want shared, especially after I’m gone and can’t add needed context!
Some stories of life are just like that. They’re meant to be explored and turned over and then kept. It sounds like you came across one of those. I get it.
Thank you Lori. Over the years I’ve kept journals but most of them have been destroyed, which devastates me today, as I would love to peek into my mind as an 8th grader. But you’re right, I wouldn’t want that shared. Of the journal entries I do still have, they are raw. Someday I hope to use those thoughts to compose a portion of my story and then see if that story is something that I’d want shared.
Finally the podcast listen featured worked and I could listen this morning! Love how you are up front that the only way to understand an ancestor is writing a narrative. We also don’t talk enough about the ripples to the current day.
Thanks Denyse. I’m glad to hear I’m not alone in the belief that no matter how much research is done, the act of piecing together a story is where the truest understanding happens.
This is incredibly insightful. I can see how it would be/is more profound and meaningful to write only for yourself. But I also understand the release and excitement you must feel when finally getting to share a story you've researched for weeks or months. It's like the grand finale. The culmination. The icing on the cake.
By creating this podcast you have found a way to both honor your family member's wish to keep an ancestor's story private, but also feel a sense of excitement yourself by sharing just a shred of your private story publicly.
Note: "rippled through the generations" is extraordinarily descriptive.
Thank you! 🥰 I am now obsessed with how experiences of one impact the lives of others.
I’m reminded of a piece I read awhile back about destroying personal journals to make sure the writing they hold remains private. As someone who has journaled for fifty years, I’ve spent a lot of time writing for myself. Often for clarity, but sometimes for connection, too, and there’s very little in my journals I’d want shared, especially after I’m gone and can’t add needed context!
Some stories of life are just like that. They’re meant to be explored and turned over and then kept. It sounds like you came across one of those. I get it.
Thank you Lori. Over the years I’ve kept journals but most of them have been destroyed, which devastates me today, as I would love to peek into my mind as an 8th grader. But you’re right, I wouldn’t want that shared. Of the journal entries I do still have, they are raw. Someday I hope to use those thoughts to compose a portion of my story and then see if that story is something that I’d want shared.
Thank you for getting it. :)