My Story

I remember that game we would play while camping, sitting around the campfire. I would whisper to the person next to me a brief, one sentence story. In turn, he would tell the next person what was said, and on to the next person until the short story went around the entire circle. Finally, the last person in the circle would tell the story, as he heard it. Rarely was the story recalled just as it was initially told. Most of the time the story would could come back a totally convoluted mess.

This reminds me of how history is passed on from generation to generation. Imagine the Stone Age man sitting around their fire telling stories or writing on their cave dwellings. In the middle-ages, monks painstakingly documenting events of the time. Or more recently with the Industrial Age, historical events retold through a more verifiable process with better means of communication. Up to today, the Information Age, where information is available in a split second, at the tip of your fingers.

As time goes on, man has adapted to the means in which they recall the past. Current events, current at that moment in time, were passed on. Whether it was a week, a year, or ages later, history was an important way to learn. 

With knowledge of the past, we learn from our failures as well as our success. This is important because as we learn from the past, humanity evolves, hopefully in a positive way. If we honor the past, we honor history.

This is not "his" story, it's MY story-and I'm sticking with it.