For the last week I've been reading a series of books written about an ancestor of mine that lived in mid 1800's. I've always enjoyed a well-written historical fiction, and these books are doubly interesting because 1. the events aren't just plausible, they're actual; and 2. I'm related. For every chapter the authors have written a little blurb about where they got their information and what parts they had to improvise.
While the historical setting and larger events come from sources like newspapers and state databases, the most part of the story is taken from journals and letters. It's fantastic that this family (all of them, it seems) kept meticulous journals, and even wrote poetry about their lives.
My journal writing has always been somewhat spotty. Sure, there was that year when I wrote every single day, but usually it's more along the lines of every month. So if, a couple hundred years from now, someone actually reads my journal and somehow decides my life is interesting enough to write about, how close would that story be to my actual life? The larger picture would be accurate: getting married, having a baby, etc. But would the readers know who I am? Would they see who I love, what I'm passionate about, what I believe?
Judging by entry frequency, I would come across first as the teenager who was infatuated with a certain boy, Ben* (I may have written about him once or twice, and even printed out and glued in a few of our IM conversations); and then suddenly the mother who can't get enough of her baby.
I wonder how much one can tell about a person just from the way one writes. Can you tell that I'm a sucker for classic novels like Pride & Prejudice, The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia? Can you feel the deep love I have for my family? Sense the commitment I have to my religion and to my God?
I wonder...
*Name may have been changed to preserve a certain amount of dignity
3 comments:
That's an interesting question. Do you want anyone to know who you are in a hundred years? Because unless you're pretty specific in your journal, they probably won't. I suppose you could pass on your personal history orally...
I pose the question because I enjoy reading about my ancestor's lives very much. Perhaps there will be some major world event in my lifetime that will make my descendents curious about what my life was really like, especially during that 'event'. Does that make sense?
I hope I live my life better than to be only a cautionary tale. What I would really like is to be an inspiration, someone my descendents will be proud to be related to, maybe even try to emulate a little. But I'll settle for being a solid link in the chain, passing on truth, a little wisdom, and good genes.
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