Ancestry

Many of my friends are very interested in researching their ancestral information and taking the DNA tests to confirm what they are learning. Talking to them about what they have learned is fascinating. I also really enjoy watching the shows called Who Do You Think You Are? And other similar ones that feature celebrities working with Genealogists who can furnish them with original documents and obscure stories that make their search complete. It's a great way to learn history too.

What if we took it a step further? And used our knowledge of world history, along with popular historical dramas, and thought of our family's ancestry as a family to-do list? I am not the first person to think of this, I just saw a meme on Facebook that basically said generations of family trauma is constantly operating in the background until one family member is able to address it, and then the entirety lands on that person's life.

Many movies touch on this theme: Ms. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon, Holes, and many others suggest that a family's trauma, unfinished business or true crime can act like a generational curse or a hangover. And conversely, a family's success can buoy it's descendants for generations afterward.

Personally, I believe it's it's incumbent on all of us to wrestle with and make peace with our family's history, whatever it may be, as much as our personal circumstances allow us to. It has been my experience and observation that if we deal with it as directly and proactively as possible, we become stronger and healthier partners, parents, professionals. And, if we try to outrun it or deny it, it seems like it will catch up with us eventually anyway.

In this blog, you will read many stories of my family's trauma and crimes, along with those of my friends. And I'll be drawing parallels between what happened generations ago to what is happening now, especially as it pertains to someone's mental condition, or the issues in their family. If we can see these connections, we may have opportunities for objectivity, detachment, and we may be able to have more perspective about ourselves and our families.