Uncovering My Past

Dear Diary,

I have been immersed in genealogical research for the last couple of weeks so it wasn't that surprising that when I did some intuitive collaging this image appeared.  I love how this art form allows the deeper reaches of the mind to come out.  Everything is woven together, our reality, our feelings, our inner most thoughts.  As Carl Jung said, "The soul speaks to us through images."

I have, the last few days, been wandering among the stones of my past.  I guess that is what genealogists do in a way.  But I really don't consider myself a "genealogist" as much as someone intent on ferreting out the stories of my ancestors.  I unearthed a great one last week and I'm hard at work on writing it up.

My e-class last October  through Abbey of the Arts on honoring my ancestors, along with this collage gave me an idea that I will share with you on Thursday.  I am slowly printing out the family chronicle pages now and for the next several months that will occupy me fully but every now and then some new story will emerge and I have to make room for it.  It is like one of my ancestors tapping me on the shoulder and saying, "Don't forget me...this is a good story."  And with each discovery, each new story, I am drawn deeper and deeper into these past lives.  With each story these people become more and more real to me and I am moved, sometimes to tears, by their stories.  Each story tells of the hardships and heartbreaks these people endured. Somehow they were able to move through it and through time to me.  That is what continues to amaze me.  I am connected to all these people by a fine thread.  Although it is as translucent as silk it is unbreakable.



“..what the next generation will value most is not what we owned, but the evidence of who we were and the tales of how we lived. In the end, it's the family stories that are worth the storage.”
―Ellen Goodman