Turn Your Heart – Again

My genealogy research process begins and ends with turning my heart to my family.

You turned your heart to your family, asking questions as you did so.

Then you planned your search for answers by identifying potential record types and learning of their availability.

You looked well. Analyzed your finds. And noted what you did every step of the way!!

Now what?

If you feel your heart re-turn to your family with renewed curiosity and you begin asking more questions…You may just have “caught the bug!” The genealogy bug!

Congratulations 😀

Before I send you zipping off down the racetrack for another lap, I would like to suggest that the turning of hearts after researching with A PLAN may be slightly different from the turning of hearts that kicks off research.

First: Turn your heart INWARD.

Ask yourself, “How has what I have learned about my family changed me?”

Do you love your family more deeply? Do you feel grateful for what was done by those who went before you? Would you like to emulate family members you learned about?

Did you discover hurt that you wish you could erase? Is your determination to do better by current and future generations stronger than before?

There are no right or wrong answers here.

Be mindful of what this journey & this knowledge mean to you.

Second: Turn your heart OUTWARD.

SHARE what you have learned with other family members! This family story belongs to them too!

I encourage you to share via online family trees like FamilySearch’s FamilyTree!

I also advocate more direct, person-to-person sharing like striking up a conversation with a sibling and more creative options like sending out calendars or cards chock-full of ancestral photos or writing a narrative and putting it out as a booklet or book.

However you do it, I believe that sharing your family finds with others will increase your joy, promote healing, and build better connections for the future.

On a not-so-sentimental note: sharing also means greater security for your finds. If your files succumb to a computer virus or a basement flood, you can go to your family members to ask for their copy!

A very important note about privacy: If what you have discovered pertains to a living person, be sure to obtain that person’s permission before you share their information with others. Period. No – Exclamation point!

The Genealogy “Hokey Pokey”

You turn your heart to the past to kick off genealogy research.

When you find answers, you turn your heart inward and outward.

Then it’s back to turning your heart to the past to begin all over again.

Kind of sounds like a genealogy version of the “Hokey Pokey”, doesn’t it?

Well, cheesy as they may be, I hope these mnemonics help you in your genealogy research.

Connect the dots in your family by researching with A PLAN, turning of hearts included.