In writing my comments and observations on Facebook I am often met with, shall we say rebuttal. I don't have an issue with that, in fact, I expect it. There are times when I am just startled. I use the term startled because it does describe my reaction to some statements made. There are things I just fine incredulous! Surely this person can't actually believe that. Surely they aren't sincere in that belief. This is especially true when I read about some of the policies these folks wish to support. Perhaps my comments startle them! The truth can come as quite a shock. Like finding out that there really isn't a Santa Claus. I should say facts, instead of truth. Truth, as it turns out, is whatever you believe it to be. Facts are sometimes different. If that weren't so we wouldn't have the Maury Povich show or Geraldo Rivera. Opinions reside somewhere in between.
I am amused when I post something, a personal anecdote or remembrance, and then get corrected on that. I can't help but chuckle, you know that silent chuckle you feel in your stomach. I don't know where you grew up or with whom, but that's what I said. Or, that's how it was when I was there. You see that is what discussion is all about. You don't get to correct my memory. Well, alright if I am being graded against a standard you can tell me the " correct " answers. Fundamental to that is agreeing upon the standard. I am well aware that what we remember are often our intentions, no matter how misguided the action taken. Ah, if we all were what we remembered ourselves to be. In that is the difference between truth and fact. We are all legends in our own minds. Nothing wrong with that it's a healthy attitude. Of course, like all things, in moderation.
Another thing that amuses me these days is all this " heritage appropriation. " Yes that sounds like a contradiction in terms but I base it on the idea of cultural appropriation. Heritage and culture are not the same thing. Culture is what you live every day and it is subject to change, heritage is what you inherited. You can't change the past, although many are trying to do just that these days. On my grandmothers side of the family, she immigrated from Sweden, those folks were steelmakers that lived in mountains. That doesn't make me a Viking! My fathers side of the family came from Germany in 1858, that doesn't make me a German. That's what I mean by all this heritage appropriation. There were " round the world" whalers in my family, I'm not one of them. My grandfather was a bayman, I never was. My feeling is this. If you have to rely on the past to validate your existence today, that's a pretty sad existence. If the only way you can distinguish yourself is by appropriating a heritage, that's really sad.
Your heritage is what you inherit. Seems straightforward enough doesn't it. You do inherit ideas and what others remember. We often call them stories, those shared memories, and we receive them as gifts. Heritage extends far beyond the material things. Traditions are the vehicle used to transport heritage. Tradition is passed from generation to generation in an unbroken line. Yes, you have to be in line to receive that! What I mean by that is actually being there. You can't skip backward three of four generations and claim that as your heritage. I here these claims of, I'm proud of where I came from. I understand that. I know exactly where I came from and it wasn't Sweden, Germany, or England. My ancestors came from there. I'm not a steel maker, a bayman, a whaler, or a Viking. I'm just who I am , and to a degree, what I inherited from previous generations. No man is an Island unto himself, as the author John Donne famously wrote. Yet each of us must transit this world individually. The problem is we do badly when left to our own devices, hence the need for tradition. You can change tradition you can change culture, what you can't change is heritage.
I am amused when I post something, a personal anecdote or remembrance, and then get corrected on that. I can't help but chuckle, you know that silent chuckle you feel in your stomach. I don't know where you grew up or with whom, but that's what I said. Or, that's how it was when I was there. You see that is what discussion is all about. You don't get to correct my memory. Well, alright if I am being graded against a standard you can tell me the " correct " answers. Fundamental to that is agreeing upon the standard. I am well aware that what we remember are often our intentions, no matter how misguided the action taken. Ah, if we all were what we remembered ourselves to be. In that is the difference between truth and fact. We are all legends in our own minds. Nothing wrong with that it's a healthy attitude. Of course, like all things, in moderation.
Another thing that amuses me these days is all this " heritage appropriation. " Yes that sounds like a contradiction in terms but I base it on the idea of cultural appropriation. Heritage and culture are not the same thing. Culture is what you live every day and it is subject to change, heritage is what you inherited. You can't change the past, although many are trying to do just that these days. On my grandmothers side of the family, she immigrated from Sweden, those folks were steelmakers that lived in mountains. That doesn't make me a Viking! My fathers side of the family came from Germany in 1858, that doesn't make me a German. That's what I mean by all this heritage appropriation. There were " round the world" whalers in my family, I'm not one of them. My grandfather was a bayman, I never was. My feeling is this. If you have to rely on the past to validate your existence today, that's a pretty sad existence. If the only way you can distinguish yourself is by appropriating a heritage, that's really sad.
Your heritage is what you inherit. Seems straightforward enough doesn't it. You do inherit ideas and what others remember. We often call them stories, those shared memories, and we receive them as gifts. Heritage extends far beyond the material things. Traditions are the vehicle used to transport heritage. Tradition is passed from generation to generation in an unbroken line. Yes, you have to be in line to receive that! What I mean by that is actually being there. You can't skip backward three of four generations and claim that as your heritage. I here these claims of, I'm proud of where I came from. I understand that. I know exactly where I came from and it wasn't Sweden, Germany, or England. My ancestors came from there. I'm not a steel maker, a bayman, a whaler, or a Viking. I'm just who I am , and to a degree, what I inherited from previous generations. No man is an Island unto himself, as the author John Donne famously wrote. Yet each of us must transit this world individually. The problem is we do badly when left to our own devices, hence the need for tradition. You can change tradition you can change culture, what you can't change is heritage.
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