A few years ago I read a statistic that said that genealogy was the second largest hobby in the United States - second only to gardening. It was no surprise to me as I have been finding and documenting my family tree for almost 30 years. Over that time a lot of people have asked me, "Why genealogy? What do you get out of it?" There are a lot of reasons to find out about your family and I'll cover just a few hoping that one of them will get you started.
Curiosity: A lot of people are just plain curious about where they came from, what their ancestors did, how they got here - to this time and this place. Lots of people find themselves in this category when they are told that they are adopted. While they have adoptive parents, traditions, and history, they also have another history that calls out to them. Other people have lost touch and are curious about where people are, how they turned out, who they married.
It's a Great Puzzle: This applies to me in several areas of my life besides genealogy. I have worked with numbers a lot - particularly with market research. I just love understanding what motivates people to buy certain products, where they shop, how much they want to pay, and where they want to hear about those products. When my wife and I go camping I spend hours working crypto quotes in the sun - fun and challenging puzzles that help me relax.
When it comes to puzzles, I don't think anything can match the complexity and fun of genealogy. Just think about a jigsaw puzzle that has an almost infinite number of pieces - some of them that don't fit and some of them missing. Nothing can match the satisfaction I get from finding one of those lost pieces of the puzzle and putting it into place. These are puzzle pieces that lead to long-lost cousins and far-off places.
Hobby: I did a lot of market research before organizing FamilyTrackers, Inc. The company was started out of my belief that Internet searches could be much more accurate than those usually conducted on the Internet. Interestingly, there is a group of genealogists who resist a more accurate way to find information. They are not interested in any tools that make the job faster. "That is the reason I do my family tree - to fill up my time. Looking into page after page of results is the part I like about genealogy. It's my hobby," they said. Fortunately for me and for FamilyTrackers those who like the things I find most tedious are not a large portion of the market.
Leave a Legacy: Some people approach middle age or have a traumatic event at any age that prompts them to think about their mortality. "If I never meet my grandchildren, what will they know about me? What will they know about my parents? How will we be remembered?" Those of us who are fortunate enough to have ancestors in this category are indeed lucky. My grandmother wrote a short story about her trip as a young girl in a covered wagon from Illinois to Kansas. Thinking about it now, it must have been a dusty, hot, and miserable trip. The events that she wrote about were ordinary, daily occurrences that were taken for granted in her time - something that she wrote about because the trip was out of the ordinary. Read the same story today and discover something that is unique to our experience - herding cattle, rustlers, camping out every night. If you do nothing else with your family history, you should write down or record your life experiences in your own words in any way that you see fit.
Emotional Satisfaction: This is a huge reason for being involved in genealogy and one that I hear repeated by other people as they talk excitedly about their latest discovery. There are moments that happen during a search that are touching and immensely satisfying. This is the moment that you look at your great grandfather's signature on your grandparent's marriage license; put your hand on the baptismal font where your oldest known ancestor was baptized; stand on the ground where your great grandfather from the old country is buried - knowing that your grandmother stood on this spot in front of an open grave grieving her loss. These moments are thrilling, goose-bump producing moments of a life time when you can almost reach across time and touch a person who you finally understand and know. This is a moment you must not miss!
Give Something Back: Lots of people get involved when they volunteer at their local genealogical or historical society. What a wonderful place to meet nice people who are willing to help you discover your roots. These groups are responsible for saving crumbling records all over the world and for making the information available to everybody. People who work in these places are almost always unpaid and give their time and effort on behalf of people like you and me every single day - people they have never even met. This is important work and you can get the satisfaction of helping other people by volunteering yourself. It is easy. Pick up the phone and call.
Whatever your reasons, give genealogy a try. It is a stimulating hobby that will put you in touch with yourself and with a lot of nice people who are ready and willing to help.
Gene Hall is a genealogist with almost 30 years of experience and the CEO of FamilyTrackers, Inc., a world-wide genealogy exchange dedicated to serving the needs of genealogists, genealogical societies, professional genealogists, and transcribers all over the world.
This article comes with reprint rights. You are free to reprint and distribute it as you like. All that I ask is that you reprint it in its entirety without any changes including this text and the link above.
How to make money from your hobby The Standard At her college, she has transformed this hobby into a moneymaking venture by selling foodstuff to her college mates. She is also saving on her food related expenses by cooking her own food. Meanwhile, Kelvin Langat, a high school teacher has had ...
Your fun's our passion nebusiness.co.uk by Karen McLauchlan, Evening Gazette Hobbies R Uz, of Silver Street, Stockton, specialises in remote control cars, electric boats and helicopters, die-cast and Airfix models. Co-owner Kara Webley, of Billingham, who set up the company with her husband ...
Hobbies: Let a poster transform a dresser Wayne Post By Cathie Filian Give a boring dresser a quick new look by sticking your favorite vintage-style poster right on the front. This design idea can be completed in an afternoon and the results are amazing. One of my favorite things about this project is ...
Hobbies: Let a poster transform a dresser The Republic By CATHIE FILIAN - Scripps Howard News Service Give a boring dresser a quick new look by sticking your favorite vintage-style poster right on the front. This design idea can be completed in an afternoon and the results are amazing.
Hobbies: Sharing a passion Memphis Commercial Appeal By Anita Houk Joyce Wiggins talks about her collection of Annalee dolls during a National Hobby Day celebration at the Frayser-Raleigh Senior Center, where Wiggins displayed the collection she began in the '80s. Joyce Wiggins talks about her collection ...
Retirement allows time for focus on hobby Iowa Farmer Today But there was no time for fun or hobbies. So I decided that when I retired I was going to get into this restoration stuff.? But hay trollies are an unusual item to collect, Weeber concedes. They are the set of pullies and metal that once hung from the ...
The social network, smaller Boston.com Pinterest is a combination bulletin board and search engine, where users can share hobbies ranging from old cars to architecture. Trapster is a community of drivers that swap sightings of police radar setups. Ravelry , a group of knitters, ...
Scrabble a Hobby, No Mr Minister AllAfrica.com What I find disturbing from the mails I received from my friends in scrabble is an outright disqualification or ban on sports like scrabble and Chess and erroneously referring to them as hobbies. To put the records straight, these two sports are not ...
Working for Hillside not just a job for Irondequoit man Rochester Democrat and Chronicle Megan Dailor / Megan Dailor Hobbies: Photography. Inside Comstock's office are snapshots of his life and travels such as waterfalls at Letchworth State Park and birds of prey from trips he's taken to Hawaii, Seattle and Montezuma National Wildlife ...
RELATED ARTICLESBe Your Own Way, but Still Use the Safe Tools
It is so often that people are not aware with the tools they use when doing their home improvement. Sometimes they use wrong tools just because they want something quick to be done.
Mixed Media Collage - Make The Pieces of Your Life Sing!
According to the dictionary, collage art is an artistic composition made of various materials (as paper, cloth or wood) glued on a surface. The word comes from the French word "coller," meaning to glue or to paste.
Comic Book Supplies, Necessities of the Serious Collector
If you want to keep your comic book collection in tiptop shape, comic book supplies will become part of your collecting life. As soon as a magazine is printed there are natural environmental forces going to work to try and destroy the ink and the paper.
Woodworking Beginners: Introduction To First Time Crafts
Woodworking: The Process Of Making Something Using WoodThe art of woodworking is one of the most ancient and widespread. From the earliest days when humans first experimented with the many uses for wood, our civilization has had a connection with this material, in all its varieties and forms.
Use Newspaper Clippings, Graphics, Kids Art, and Clipart to Enhance Your Scrapbook
A popular addition to scrapbook pages is newspaper clippings. Newspaper clippings of birth announcements, team photographs, or favorite celebrities add a personal touch to scrapbook pages.
Woodworking - Creative, Relaxing and Timeless
The title reflects Woodworking as a hobby, not as a vocation. Vocational woodworking is pretty much the opposite of the adjectives in the title because of the intense pressure to produce quickly in order to make it pay the bills.
Leather Work Tips
For leather work, consider the basics: an awl and spare point, a retractable X-acto knife and spare blades, a retractable knife with a break-off blade and a rotary punch. In addition, you'll need needles, a lump of beeswax and some waxed linen thread.
Save on Kids Craft Supplies - Recycle!
Here is some information about how to collect and use recycled objects in your crafts!You can save a lot of money on arts and crafts supplies by saving things that you might ordinarily throw away! If you are building up a craft supply box for a classroom, daycare, church or school - get the parents involved by sending out list of these items so they can help out too!Make sure to prepare each item for storage. Wash and dry anything that contained food or liquids.
Introduction to Hobby Metal Casting for the Practical Home Mechanic - Engineer
Your enjoyment will start right from the moment you start to build the simple equipment required. It is possible to create amazing things in metal with a home foundry.
Endless Possibilites With Custom Printed Lanyards
Custom printed lanyards are an extremely popular item and are readily available for purchase through a large amount of suppliers. Many suppliers have detailed e-commerce sites that allow buyers to select a lanyard style and customize it without ever having to leave their office or home.
How To Create A Collage Journal
Creating a collage journal is a unique and fun way to personalize and enrich your journal. Making a collage journal is something that everyone can enjoy.
More Than A Memory- A Legacy
Everyone has that box of pictures either in a close or in a garage. Even worse yet in a magnetic album.
Patterning and Spacing in Your Scrapbooks
How can you arrange your scrapbook page to best show off your mementos and embellishments? You can place everything in the center of your page, place a single focus item in the center, or divide the page into sections adding items to each section. You may also choose to lay the items out in a standard recipe or calendar layout.
The Most Powerful Attribute in Antiques and Collectibles
What can increase your sales volume and make you more productive day in and day out? You've probably heard this three word statement that seperates those who wish they could do better,from those who really do.Knowledge is power!This three word statement is more than just a great philosophy.
Antique Delft and Very Collectible Tiles and Ceramics: Beginners Start Here
So you fancy starting a collection but you're not sure what to collect? How About . .
Embroidery Basting Frames Use for Stabilizing Designs
Using a basting frame around designs can do a great deal to help prevent fabric puckers around a design, aid in positioning multiple or split designs and it's the best way to trap the fabric and stabilizer at the start! You will need editing software for this, but for best results, resize the frames to fit as close to the design as possible. It's also possible to use a basting frame even if you don?t have embroidery software to combine the frame with a design.
A Brief History of Candles
For centuries man's progress has been lighted by candles. However, people know only very few things about the origin of candles.
The Wonderful Art of Bonsai
The potential for enjoyment of Bonsai trees is enormous. These are the dwarf-sized trees that have been developed in the Asian countries of China and Japan for many hundreds of years.
Depression Glass Companies
Just before the advent of the Great Depression, more than ahundred companies manufactured glassware in the UnitedStates. At the end of the Depression, fewer than fiftypercent of these companies remained in business.
Getting Rid of Messes and Mistakes in Your Scrapbooks
No matter how careful you are, you will undoubtedly find a mistake, mark, or mess on your finished scrapbook page. This is just part of the process of making a scrapbook.
