Write it, record it, photograph it... capture it!
This morning I was having a conversation with a colleague about social networks, blogs, discussion boards and other e-communications. (My colleague is the college's web master and the resident guru on electronic communications.) He made a comment that really hit home with me. He opined that information is becoming so instantaneous and so disposable that we are losing our history--our personal and institutional memory--of the ways things evolve and how they are connected. We have the attitude that if something didn't happen in our lifetime, we don't really care. It's ancient history.
For example, everyone in my age group can tell you where he or she was when John Kennedy was shot. College students weren't born yet, and so, if the truth be told, they don't really get engaged when the subject is brought up. The same is true when students are asked to analyze the significance of MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech. Even 9/11 is rapidly becoming "ancient history" belonging to older siblings because this year's college freshmen were in the 5th grade and only remember that their teacher was crying or that they got to go home early. It didn't have the same impact on them as it did on, say, their older sister or brother who was a senior and in the student ROTC program.
My point is, one of the strengths of sharing the stories of our lives is that we lived it--and we need to share those stories so that when our younger siblings or children experience crises--and they will--that they can find solace and hope in our struggle and survival.
Writing prompt: Write about the rising price of gasoline and how it has changes your daily life.
For example, everyone in my age group can tell you where he or she was when John Kennedy was shot. College students weren't born yet, and so, if the truth be told, they don't really get engaged when the subject is brought up. The same is true when students are asked to analyze the significance of MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech. Even 9/11 is rapidly becoming "ancient history" belonging to older siblings because this year's college freshmen were in the 5th grade and only remember that their teacher was crying or that they got to go home early. It didn't have the same impact on them as it did on, say, their older sister or brother who was a senior and in the student ROTC program.
My point is, one of the strengths of sharing the stories of our lives is that we lived it--and we need to share those stories so that when our younger siblings or children experience crises--and they will--that they can find solace and hope in our struggle and survival.
Writing prompt: Write about the rising price of gasoline and how it has changes your daily life.
posted by Joyce, of course at 11:26 AM
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