The good, the bad, and the beautiful of thinking forward.
There are many people in my family tree whose entire lives are reduced to a few precious documents. Those papers are all I have as evidence that they lived a life. I study their names, their places of birth, and reasons for their death. To quote the movie Hope Floats, “Beginnings are usually scary, endings are usually sad, but it’s what’s in the middle that counts.” What I wouldn’t give to know their middles! Still, I am able to feel a connection to them and hold deep gratitude for my own life.
With the limited knowledge before me, I ponder what these ancestors of mine were like when they were really alive. I want to know the good, the bad, and the beautiful. Have you ever felt this way?
This spurred a deeper question: Will future generations get a sense of my heart by the trail I am leaving behind? Often in genealogy, we are told to start with ourselves and work our way back one by one until we form a tree of ancestors who came before.
Today I implore you to start with you and then think forward.
When I die I am going to leave behind a digital trail for my future family to comb through. What does your online presence say about you? Your personal pages are filled with places you visit, reactions to political agendas, family photos and everything in between.
What will your digital footprint do to your legacy?
This may be a time you can reflect on your online platforms and think of the messages you’re sending to the future generations to come. If you took a peek at your latest post, would you be ok if that was the last thing the world sees to represent you as a person?
Your personal social media accounts are about your life. It is not going to look like my life or your friend’s life. As a society we need to think of our social accounts as online scrapbooks for everyone to have access to in the years ahead. This idea motivates me to consider being more personable and including more of the real good, bad and beautiful in my life that I wouldn’t mind a grandchild reading 40 or 200 years from now.
You are a genealogist without even realizing it.
My parents and grandparents generation didn’t have social media accounts growing up and now have services available to them like https://welcome.storyworth.com/ where you are prompted by email each week to answer their personal life questions that get compiled throughout the year and end up having a written legacy of their very own. I imagine that will morph into a compilation of our social media accounts when we get older.
I have listed some prompts below for you to consider talking about on your personal platform or blog that may encourage you to bring the good, bad and beautiful about your own personal story to add to your digital legacy.
- Describe a defining moment in your life and how it shaped who you are today.
- What is one piece of advice you received that changed your perspective on life?
- Share a heartwarming memory involving family or friends that you cherish.
- What were your favorite hobbies or pastimes as a child, and how did they influence you?
- If you could relive one day from your life, which day would it be and why?
- What was your first job, and what lessons did you learn from it?
- Describe a challenge you overcame and how it made you stronger.
- What was the most significant technological advancement you witnessed in your lifetime?
- Share a book or a movie that had a profound impact on your life.
- Who is someone you idolized growing up, and how did they inspire you?
- What traditions did your family have that you hope to pass down?
- Describe an unusual or unexpected experience you had while traveling.
- What dreams or goals did you have as a teenager that you still think about?
- If you could give advice to your younger self, what would it be?
- What are some social or political changes you’ve seen in your lifetime?
- Who has been a mentor in your life, and how did they influence your journey?
- Describe a moment when you felt truly proud of yourself.
- What role did music play in your life, and what songs are significant to you?
- How did your life change after a significant turning point, such as graduation, marriage, or becoming a parent?
- What are your most treasured possessions, and what stories do they hold?
- What are some of the biggest risks you took, and how did they work out for you?
- Describe a time when you took a stand for something important to you.
- What was one of the greatest challenges you faced during a major life transition?
- How have your values changed over time, and what influenced that change?
- If you could share one lesson that future generations should learn, what would it be?
- Feel free to elaborate on these prompts with stories, thoughts, or reflections to give future generations a glimpse into your life and experiences!
These questions are a great start and may prompt you to consider posting about other things. If you decide to answer one please include a picture alongside your memories or thoughts. Sometimes the idea of writing a journal or book overwhelms people. If thats you, consider using your social media platforms, like Facebook or Instagram, to leave your story.
I cannot state how badly I wish I had any of these questions answered from the ancestors in my tree.
You can give the gift of first hand memories to your family for all the years to come. What a powerful gift. The good, bad and the beautiful of thinking forward.
Is there someone in your tree or in your life that you wish you had more information on? Yeah, me too. Tell me something amazing you discovered that helped you flush out an ancestor!
Want to make sure your keepsakes stay keepsakes? Check out this post!
Learn more about Jenne below!
Roots of Discovery 
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