Friday, October 19, 2007

Tip # 19...Preserve your story online

It's early Friday morning and I have one question: What happened to the Cleveland Indians? I am a baseball fan but do not have a particular allegiance to either the Red Sox or the Indians. However, I believed Manny Rodriguez's comment would spur on the Indians to clobber the Red Sox. Lucky for me, I am not a gambler.

Ah, the history of the game is created every time someone steps to the plate. Every swing, every bunt, every strike and ball are recorded in the annals of baseball history. Fans pour over and memorize these trivia facts their entire lives. You know what I mean. The guys who say "Well, Mickey Mantle's average in 1962 was .314 but it was downhill from there."

Family history is created every day, too. And, unless we preserve it, it slips away. Yesterday's tip offered a way to preserve your history with life books. Today we explore some other options. As media changes, the way we preserve must expand and adapt. The best scenario is to use a variety of methods to tell our story thus ensuring longevity and survival.

Books are family heirloom treasures and I cherish the life books my parents created. But the Internet continually invents new options for preserving your story. Family Tree Genealogy insider (from familytreemagazine.com/insider/default.)aspx August 8, 2007) suggests you can "Immortalize your self online," with http://www.storyofmylife.com/. The site by Eravita offers members the means to preserve their story for future generations. You control the story, the photos, all of the content. Storyofmylife.com guarantees survival of your page and is a great alternative to the book format.

Another option for those over 50 years old is http://www.eons.com/. Eons offers a site to create your own story. In addition, you can plan uture goals and connect with others in the Eons community. Eons is like a http://www.myspace.com/ for the seasoned Internet user.

Here are more choices to review. Select carefully as Internet sites can be fleeting, here today, gone tomorrow. Be sure to have a backup, just in case.

I realize that sometimes living your life is hectic enough without the thought of recording it. I also realize that when I relax, reflect and write I uncover more knowledge of my life than I can in the daily race to tomorrow. Manny Rodriguez may not realize the importance each victory until he truly has a chance to reflect upon it. So, I turn to Socrates, who so wisely wrote, "The unexamined life is not worth living." I choose to believe my life is worth living, worth examination and worth recording.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

It's not Manny's comment that bothered me, he's right that life goes on. But not running past first base after that hit? You're right, it is important to put our family histories down for our children and grandchildren. Otherwise we are just running to first base and no further. Or, am I just mixing my metaphors?

Energetic Storyteller, Family Historian & Grebel Lover said...

I don't think you are mixing metaphors. There are so many similarities between baseball and life which, in the heat of the game, we fail to notice. Life does go on, win or lose, but by talking about it, it implies a laissez faire attitude which is not fair to the fans. There are more important things than baseball. Family history for one.

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