What I Learned About Humanity and Living Through Researching My Ancestry

Researching my own ancestry opened my eyes to some patterns that seemed to emerge several times that surprised me. I feel like I have a deeper understanding of how money moves and flows through generations, the frequency with which people travel, and the general trials and tribulations of wars, diseases, and famines that strike all over the world and throughout all families’ histories.

I was able to see how names and ideas about people get rewritten by those who write them – how often a name was changed each time it was noted, how people were erased or renationalized or forced into different religions over and over again throughout time.

Knowing my family’s personal history makes me feel a bit more grounded in time today. I feel like I have an appreciation for history that I haven’t had before – but my interest is smaller in a way. My focus on events that my ancestors were directly involved in feels more meaningful than reading about events that happened continents away and centuries ago where nobody in my family ever walked or breathed. I can feel the influence of my ancestors now – maybe that’s just imagined, but it feels somehow like home, and history, and ambition, and maybe even peace.

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