Journaling Your Version of World Events

by Linda C. Senn

History books contain cold, hard facts, but tell nothing of the human responses to major world events.

In Historic Perspective Journaling, you record (journal) your own version of historic events as they take place.

For part of 2004 and all of 2005, Mother Nature seemed to go out of her way to spread destruction and chaos throughout the world.

The 2004 Asian tsunami, spawned by an undersea earthquake, killed an estimated 275,000 people. Many of us first heard about it the morning of December 25th. How would you relate the scenes you saw on TV to the next generation?

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita wrought such devastation on the US Gulf Coast, particularly New Orleans, that some doubt it can ever truly be rebuilt. What did your brain and your heart tell you about the city’s eventual recovery?

The damage spread far beyond the reach of the hurricanes thanks to a resulting disruption in the national’s oil supply. Have you written down your insights about the post-hurricane headlines and the longer-term fallout?

In writing about such events, describe your feelings and responses, what was going on in your everyday life, as well as the reactions of the rest of the world. Here’s an example of writing of the personal reaction to a historic event::

January 28th, 1986

… and I was in the process of mopping up the [kitchen] walls and floor. The launch of the Challenger had been delayed a couple of times – a door handle needed fixing and ice build-up had to be “knocked off.”

From the radio in the dining room I heard an “official confirmation” about Challenger, I charged into the dining room – Pinesol scrub cloth in my rubber gloved hands – curious whether they’d had to postpone the launch another day or not. What the woman announcer on KADI was telling us was that Challenger had exploded a little over a minute (74 seconds) after take-off! I ran to the TV trying to get CNN…In pained disbelief with tears streaming down my face, I watched an instant reply of the horrible catastrophe.

History books don’t tell the real life effect on those who only experienced the events through the media or in person. But affected we certainly are! And that’s what the next generation deserves to read about.

For additional information, contact Linda Senn at Linda@PenCentralOnline.com

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