A recent article revealed the number one way to “surprisingly” boost your confidence — hear your family’s stories.
I found this not so surprising because I grew up in Mississippi, the epicenter of Southern storytelling in my mind. The intrigue with which I’ve tuned in to TV shows about genealogy only confirms my personal experience that learning about your family’s struggles and triumphs is — I would rather use the word — inspiring.
It’s inspiring when celebrities featured on these genealogy shows, such as “Who Do You Think You Are” on TLC, learn they had a grandfather down the line who was a decorated war hero. It’s embarrassing when they reveal someone in their family tree was arrested for murder or treason. But, there is the inherent sense of survival! People before us lived through these intensely challenging circumstances, learned from them (or not) … and survived!
Watching these shows, one can’t help but wonder — who are the people and what are the stories that make up your DNA?
Born and raised in Mississippi, I’ve since traveled to or lived in a handful of different places where I’ve been exposed to different cultures — none so diverse as my current home, Los Angeles. But there truly is something special about the art of storytelling in the South.
Sure, there are the famous Southern writers like William Faulkner or Eudora Welty, but some of the best storytellers I’ve known personally were of the oral tradition, passing down stories at family gatherings or intimate dinners with close family and friends.
My maternal grandmother and her siblings shared what it was like to grow up during the Great Depression. My Great-Aunt Lona Pearl didn’t realize a chicken “had anything but a wing” until she was married and living outside of the family’s home. As the youngest of seven children, their mother divvied up an entire chicken to feed a family of nine. Their father received the largest cut, and so forth, on down the line until she must have nibbled on a wing with the next oldest sibling. Can you imagine? Yet, she and all six of her siblings lived through these tough times, eventually having families of their own.
Hearing your family’s stories can instill a greater sense of self yet a shared belonging to a purpose greater than yourself. Once you start digging deeper with genealogy, these stories remind us of the power of choices and consequences. And ultimately, it only takes one person with determination, curiosity or courage to change the trajectory of an entire bloodline. Hearing your family’s stories can improve our own “story” and with that the ability to recognize and tell the stories of others.
Shift Key is a content marketing and PR agency that tells stories for companies or brands. We like to share tips along the way for how to better tell your brand’s story.
Interview the elders in your family and ask them to tell you a story about their experiences growing up, a story about your family. Interview individuals in your company and highlight their stories. Maybe your company was established against great odds or has grown despite the Recession by focusing on a particular niche. Seek to inspire and entertain, educate without necessarily selling, and you’ll build a loyal following while winning the SEO game — this is the crux and inherent value of content marketing.
Image credit: From the website of Forest, Miss., where the author, Stacey Lee Boyett, grew up. http://www.forest-ms.com
At Shift Key, we make communication capital. We are journalists who know how to create original content, the foundational layer of digital marketing. We understand audience and the information your audience wants — whether you are an agency, brand, company or non-profit. Content is the bedrock of digital marketing. Shift Key creates unique and informative content that feeds marketing activities across a mounting number of channels, generating buzz for brands and leads for products and services.