Time and again I have heard people say not to hold too tightly to the past in terms of one's personal life... but until something is fully understood, perhaps it is not wise to simply "move on" as we are, so often, advised to do. It isn't necessary to analyze and scrutinize every detail of one's experiences to find the outstanding lessons to be learned from it, although details may well be an important part of the over-all picture... and they are not to be overlooked and cast off as if they are not important... but first take a long look at the over-all picture... then down to the details,... not the other way around... which is what it seems to me seems to be the manner of doing things these days..
While every place on earth has a rich history, what is the history of the area in which you live? If you can only go back as far as when they put the first mall up and which business have come and gone since then, and how many times the original mall has been replaced,, you are counting the pixels and missing most of the picture...
There are more places of historic significance than just the sites on a map, and more history to a location than just what is written in a brochure and on prominent display. Oftentimes at parks, they list the fees and all sorts of business information without giving any information as to the history of the location, which I find very sad.There may be a lot of ruins, yet they are not even mentioned on a brochure or website . A child may as WHAT ARE THOSE? to which someone will simply respond RUINS...MAYBE OF AN ICE HOUSE... but they may never find out, unless someone knows or it has been documented... and details ARE important... but they come after one has seen the entire landscape in an overview, generally speaking...
Before you can really understand what is going on in this country today, you have to know what it was founded on and why... and not merely assume you know based on what is printed in the brochures...
Life on earth itself did not begin when you were born... but it's a good point to measure from in terms of your own life ...
Life in America didn't begin with the signing of the Declaration of Independence either, but it too is a good place to start as you survey the land before and behind, to the right and the left, above and below... no just laterally, and not just beginning here and now... because no matter who is in office as president... it didn't begin with him... and he is being effected by events, just as he is effecting them...
In looking into the history of my own hometown area, bit by bit I was led also to the Civil War. What prompted me to do this research at this time, I do not really know... but at this time in the history of our country I think it holds some valuable lessons that we ought not forget... that go way back before 9/11...
Therefore I'd like to share this link with you, inviting comments on what you SEE in it... and how it applies or can apply to things today... Something to do when you can't find something good on TV tonight... No pressure... Noone is grading your papers... just a new perspective to take with you when you watch the news, and are concerned about the economy and forget to stop and smell the roses long the way...
I highly recommend:
"DEATH AND THE CIVIL WAR/THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE/ PBS VIDEO"
* the link to this has expired now and the video is no longer available on-line, but if you click the link it will tell you how to get a copy of it... and it would be a good one to view more than once, and share with others because we all need to know and remember, so that we see where we have progressed and to try to keep history from repeating itself
http://video.pbs.org/video/2280706814
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