Today I'm feeling lost in the fog of battle: my battle as a newbie to genealogy, and trying to piece together the threads of the life of Nehemiah Newans. Luckily for me Mom, our family's first generation digital genealogist, has built out our tree nicely with over 60,000 ancestors. (Go, Mom!)
My job, as I see it, is to carry this tree and the stories that come with it forward. To that end I'm digging deeper into the life of my fifth GGF, Nehemiah Newans. Have just been up a big ol' blind alley (see below) and am feeling all foggy-headed about the direction of my research. Am I missing something important? Yeah, probably... that's my newbie lack of knowledge at work! But Mom with all her years of experience is my wingman and double-checks all my work. How lucky am I?
If I feel lost, am wondering how many of you also feel lost in the fog of missing data, web sites with bad information posted, bogus trees, misinformation, dead ends, and unsourced data?
But that's not all of the cause of my battle-weary fog. My research plan had a clear path and now it doesn't. Am thinking I need to step back, get the situation at arms length and regroup. Take a break, and start with a fresh eye. Can't help but feel that I'm missing something in plain sight but am too close to see it. I trust my gut on stuff like this.
I feel for you. When you're new to genealogy it seems like you're looking at a mountain and wander "how am I going to get up there?" But be patient, it gets easier with time. Step back and take a minute!
ReplyDelete