May is Personal History Awareness Month

May was Personal History Awareness Month and, at its close, it’s important to know that your reflections on your personal stories have not yet ended.  If you didn’t know about Personal History Month, that’s okay.  You can start now.  The stories you record from now will be treasured keepsakes for many generations to follow.

The purpose of Personal History Awareness Month to help people understand the amazing life everyone leads.  Even if you don’t think your children, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, will be interested in your story, think again.  Something as simple as going to the store and buying milk for four dollars or some of your genetic traits will be so interesting to future generations.  Reading about your normal boring days to you, will be windows into the past for others.  If you’ve ever sat and read memoirs or diaries in history, you know the power that words can have to transform you to a different place in time.

If you are wondering how to start recording your personal history, here are a few tips to get you started.

• Think of a way you would like to record your story.  You can use tapes, a journal, or scrapbooking.  Think of a way that appeals to you so you will want to do it and look forward to it each day.

• You don’t have to start from when you were born.  You can start with today.  Talk about what you did, how you feel, and what you are thinking about.

• If you want to tell stories from the past, go ahead.  You don’t have to stay in your present life, you can look back and bring your past to the present.  It will help you and the readers of your story see how you’ve grown and how your present has been affected because of your past.

• Incorporate stories from others into your stories.  You don’t have to just focus on yourself.  If your children have done something memorable or you attended a family event, include it in your stories.  If you have a friend going through something difficult, tell that story as well.  Many things that happen around you affect your life directly so you should share it.

• It’s okay to take a break from time to time.  Don’t feel that once you start, you have to continue.  If you’ve had enough, put it away for awhile and come back to it.  Future generations will still get the benefits even if it’s not a daily recording.

Now that you have a few tips to get you started, tell your story!  In the comments, tell us how you are telling your story and what you hope future generations will get out of it.

(Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chant3/)

June 5th, 2009 by Marcelina Hardy | Posted in Family Trees, Geneology Projects | (0)