Genealogy, inspired!
If you have experienced an NPE event, I imagine you know how earth-shaking it can be to have the very fabric of your being ripped apart and woven back together into a 3-D tapestry with brand new threads. Had you asked me in 2019 if I thought I might talk about the whole experience on…
When I laid out the plans for my Heritage Journal I knew intuitively that starting with myself would probably pose a challenge.
Truly, how does one properly reflect on their life in a concise way on a simple two page spread, especially when one considers their life only half lived?!
Welp, after a nasty bought with COVID and a little recovery/catch up time, I finally carved out a couple of hours to sit with my new heritage journal, write out a few words on the first two pages, and complete the first spread! I’m quite pleased with how it turned out.
What all does it include?
Photos of Scotland, England, and Ireland (the lands of the majority of my Ancestors)
A map of Santa Fe (where I was born and raised)
A DNA helix
A copy of my pedigree through my 2x great grandparents…
It’s been a little over three years since I confirmed my biological father and half of my genetics…
Since I found my three half-siblings…
Since I learned so many details about so many strangers who I never knew existed and who are my kin.
I spent months upon months talking to siblings and aunts and uncles and cousins…
Gathering data and facts…
Staring into photos and details
Looking for all of the pieces of a massive puzzle that I hoped would come together succinctly to make it all of this history make sense in my head and my heart in present time.
There’s something almost hypnotic about the way ripples expand in water when its stillness is disturbed by even the smallest movement, the tiniest pebble, isn’t there?
We spend our lives being told not to make waves, cause chaos. We’re told to hold steady, keep our heads down, and maintain the peace, whether it be in the family, at school, or in the workforce. And while this works for some longer than for others, there’s something to be said for shaking things up… for stepping into one’s power in ways previously unimaginable. Sometimes the catalysts are external, and sometimes they’ve been inside us all along.
This is the story of my NPE experience.