When I was younger and before I had children I rarely ever thought of who my grandparents were, who their parents were, or even how we came to be in the United States. The older I became the more I thought about it and the more important history became to me. I found myself thinking about how easy it is to become so hyper-focused on the day to day details that we forgot that life is our story and that story is intertwined with that of our ancestors.
Not that long ago my aunt at decided she wanted to research our family ancestry going so far as to travel to the country our family originally came from, Scotland. The details she gleaned about my family, their story and their presence over the course of time really gave me more of a sense of myself. I found myself thinking more about the big picture and valuing time a little bit more than I had before.
Ancestry is a personal journey and so the reasons why people are interested in their ancestry or that of others can be varied, but if you allow me I would like to share with you why I think ancestry is so important to the future.
1. Learning-On a broader basis history continually shapes who we are, what we will and can become. The history of our family, our country, our world, our choices, and their outcomes all effect our ability to move forward into the future positively and productively. It is from history we get our research and understanding and from this innovation is born. By providing our story we deliver a greater understanding of our history and ancestry to our future generations.
2. Innovation- innovation is defined as making a change or doing something new, with our past we are able to discern new paths.
3. Personal Connection- personal connection is where our humanity lies and in humanity is our ability to positively effect our world, our selves, and our loved ones. Even with the expansion of our abilities as we innovate- especially in the digital arena- our true strength lies in our humanity.
As a company ancestry is one of the aspects we would like to contribute to for our users. We consistently strive to be able to benefit our users and their recipients in ways that foster our personal connection which we believe can contribute to innovation and learning in the future.
We would love to hear your thoughts on ancestry and the future.
