Are You the Ancestor the Future Needs?
Idea 2
As a child, we moved every two-four years. In each of those locations, I have vivid memories of spending time in the town library. When we lived in Illinois, I was in my Nancy Drew phase. I can still see vividly in my mind where the mystery section was and the yellow spines of the Nancy Drew books lined up on the shelves. They were mid-height at the far end of the aisle, on the left.
The last few years I’ve often wondered if those Nancy Drew books inspired my love for digging into genealogy and tracing clues to solve a mystery. It’s a little jolt of adrenaline to find a clue that leads you down a path to solve a family mystery.
I imagine those Nancy Drew books also inspired my newer hobby of metal detecting. If I metal detect around an old home site, based on what I find where, I can dream of how lives were a hundred years ago. I can tell where they might have put the saddles on the horses, because I found a buckle that would have been used on that saddle. I found a hundred year old dog tag, so I know the family had at least one dog.
All those books led to a rich adult life. Maybe there isn’t one-hundred percent causation, but certainly correlation.
As I was thinking about stories this week, I was reminded of what Adam Grant said in his book, Originals:
Remarkably, there are studies showing that when children’s stories emphasize original achievements, the next generation innovates more. In one study, psychologists tracked unique accomplishments in American children’s stories from 1800 to 1950. After original achievement themes in American children’s books rose by 66 percent from 1810 to 1850, the patent rate shot up sevenfold from 1850 to 1890. Children’s books reflected the values popular at the time, but also helped to nurture those values. When stories emphasized original achievement, patent rates typically soared twenty to forty years later…. Unlike biographies, in fictional stories characters can perform actions that have never been accomplished before, making the impossible seem possible (p. 173).
Maybe all those Nancy Drew books made me believe that I could do it, too. I could find those clues, and I could solve mysteries, too. As Brené Brown explains, the stories we tell ourselves create our reality. I think I’ve become a decent amateur sleuth in real life.
If you’re new to this accidental series, please look back at the first idea for a little context before proceeding with Idea 2.
Be the ancestor the future needs.
What if being the ancestor the future needs can be as simple as reading a story to your kids, grandkids, and other little ones? Let’s help them dream.
At work recently, we had an essay contest for first graders through high school seniors. While on the one hand it was refreshing to read that it was the simple things in life that these kids loved most about their communities, it was clear that these kids need help dreaming of what life could be one day.
Maybe to be the the ancestor the future needs, when I’m babysitting, I need to take time to read a book with the kids.
Maybe if we plant the seeds with the imaginative world in books and then let them be “bored,” we will be creating an environment for them to create and innovate. And that, just might be what the future needs.
Thanks for pulling up a chair and joining me at The Creighton Cabin this week. If you think any of these ideas will spark conversations, please share the articles with friends and family.
Join me again at The Creighton Cabin as I slowly help rural Appalachian communities unlock their economic potential by challenging and changing the stories they tell themselves. I use local history and genealogy to help communities recognize their strengths and envision a brighter tomorrow. Think of it as community development powered by DNA, not just dollars.
How does this post only have 5 likes and no comments? The most important thing we do is lead and inspire the next generation. THE MOST IMPORTANT, PEOPLE! Are you listening? If you are over the age of 40, that is your most important job in life. Or at least according to all the known scientific data in Anthropology, Biology, and Behavioral Psychology. I came from a poor agricultural community and the most important keys to future success were 1. Interaction from intelligent adults, 2) Reading autobiographies of successful people and fictional stories of successful adolescents 3) The freedom to explore and make mistakes. That's it. That's all it takes.