Flow
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| https://www.vecteezy.com/free-photos/blockchain Stock photos by Vecteezy |
Why?
Why do we continue to do this work of family history and genealogy? After all, it can be very difficult sometimes, and depending on what we uncover, even painful. We often deal with records that many people regard as dusty old relics of the past, boring or even impossible to read and understand. It can be expensive; many of the repositories and relatives we need to consult with are distant; travel is not free! Even when we use online services, the prices of most of them keeps rising. We want more than anything to pass along our findings to our families, and yet often they seem uninterested.
Flow
Nevertheless, we persist! I think the answer may lie in what brain science calls "flow." The article "Flow: The Science Behind Deep Focus," says "Athletes often describe being “in the zone” when doing their sport. This is known as the flow state: You’re completely focused on the task at hand, all other worries disappear, you work with confidence, and you enjoy what you’re doing. Studies are revealing how chemicals in the brain affect specific brain regions to allow for this state of intense focus and gratification."
Morning Edition from NPR broadcast a 2-minute story called "How video games can help people worry less," which they opened with, "The mind state of flow is reached when you're completely absorbed in an activity that's challenging, but not too hard." I immediately thought of all the jokes and cartoons about researchers staying up late researching, and how I've done it, "just until I finish finding all the kids," or linking all the people in this obituary, or.....
I find this same absorption making art, sometimes even cleaning house, gardening, but mostly doing genealogy research. I recently began playing Sudoku, and while I find it frustrating, it's also similar to genealogy! The entire puzzle has to make sense, but so does every row, column, and square. And sometimes it does not all come together until I notice that YES, the 6 can *only* go in that square, which means that this one is a 2, etc., until the whole puzzle is solved -- and I can go to bed happy. [Note from MaryLynn--I do the Sudoku first thing in the morning! It gets my brain using an orderly, logical approach to my day.]
The process is much the same in genealogy research. Each person's story has to make sense, and their story must fit perfectly into the whole family's story, and the parents' family's story, and the groups they are a part of, the localities where they lived, and on and on. The context is so much larger in our research than a simple Sudoku puzzle but the principle is the same.
Generosity
In the last SKCGS Genealogy Chat, MaryLynn told the story of some photos that her cousin shared, along with some stories about her mother as a child, and how much those stories fit with what she remembers about her mom. We all want this! The generosity of friends and relatives, even strangers, who share stories, images and perhaps documents we otherwise would not have access to.
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| Generated with Bing Image Creator March 27, 2024 |
I love that the symbol and main tool we use to organize our work is a TREE. To me, the tree is our example of generosity. Trees generally spread through the roots of their parents or seeds from their fruit, and gain their nourishment from the natural world; they breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen, take in the sun and rain and nourishment from the earth. Even when they die, their bodies are used by us humans and the other beings, plant and animal, in their surroundings. They not only exemplify flow, being among them gives us that sense of calm energy that is flow.
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| Valorie Zimmerman |
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