Genealogy Mindfulness

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a pretty important concept in the world of mental health. It's all about being fully aware of things that are going on in the present - how your food tastes, your breathing, the way the sun feels on your skin. Mindfulness exercises can be pretty relaxing, and they do help you to realize that you may be missing some important or memorable details of your life when you rush through your day-to-day routine.

I make a lot of mistakes when it comes to mindfulness. For example, a couple of years ago I spent two weeks in Scotland. We rushed through our days, trying to cram in as much as we could. After the trip, I realized that although I had seen a lot, I never really took the time to experience Scotland - the people, the culture, the feel of the wind and mist on my face.

This realization changed the way I plan to travel in the future. I want to leave plenty of time to get a feel for a place. I hope I can resist the urge to be a super-touri

I was reminded of genealogical mindfulness today when this little cutie referred to a suction-cup arrow as a "toilet horn." I can only assume she meant a plunger, and I hope she doesn't ever try to touch one to see if it honks!

I couldn't stop laughing, and I realized that I should be writing these things down. She won't be three forever, and Grannys have much more time to record cute little stories than Moms.

I have some pretty vague memories of much of my childhood. It would have been such a treasure for me if someone had written down a few things. Just a few short stories about what I said and did. Maybe I should have asked my parents more about my own childhood too when I asked them about theirs, but I was thinking about the past.

Sadly, it's too late for stories about me, but I can record fun little tidbits about my descendants. Those cute stories I still share with friends from time to time would be perfect! Like when a group of my friends were at my house scrapbooking, and my youngest daughter, who was about 4, went around the table telling everyone they were doing a good job. Or when my second daughter was 3 and made us all call her Jasmine (from Aladdin) for weeks on end. And when my oldest was 3 and told me my stretch marks were beautiful because they were pink and purple.  I love these stories, but I've never written them down for them.

So, going forward, I will be adding this to my Genealogy Do-Over. I will, in addition to searching in records from the past, include some "personal knowledge" stories for my family to enjoy in the future, properly cited, of course.  I will try to remember the recent past, be mindful of the present, and get those stories documented!