Individual women leave a legacy to those that follow in their footsteps and family, and to those people who cared about their well being.
Collective legacy has not attracted as much attention as individual legacy. When we think of the women who paved the way to where we are today, we have spotty information available to us. History remembers the winners. Ask yourself, how often have women been winners in matters of conquest and political legacy?
But collective legacy is just history, isn’t it? No, not really. Collective legacy and history bundle information very differently, and the filters used are almost incomparable due to their differences. History records the noble and usually embellished biography of leaders. Legacy is what individuals give to the future.
Histories of women, as they have existed, were presented as lessons.
Bundles of letters and diaries are consumed by mildew and then turn to dust. Oral telling of stories change with telling. Individual lives eventually diminish to names and dates associated with genealogical entries. Loss of information about the real lives of individuals no longer is the norm. We are leaving digital trails of our lives.
The ease of access to information that comes with the internet is equaled by the ease of publication of information. We are the first generation of we “digital grandmothers,” and whether we are 40 or 80 years of age, we can create our own archives of information, we can curate our digital legacy.
This site is here to help you do just that. We are starting small, but we have big plans for creating a useful starting point for women who want to tell the stories of the women who have shaped their lives as well as their own. How-to articles, posts to inspire you, and services to assist you are being created or are in development for this site. Sign up for our newsletter to stay current.
The simple act of telling our stories, in a way that is widely and digitally accessible, changes everything. The information we draw upon as a culture shapes all we do. The more information we put into that system, the more it will be accessed and shape future decisions, processes, and culture itself.
