This was inspired by a conversation between me and a group of girls my age.

It is almost unheard of to orally pass down the history of people on a large scale. Why would we when we have the ability to write it down instead? Written forms of history is a way to preserve the facts; we know what happened, who was there, and why.

Food for thought: There’s something unsettling about reading a history textbook where on one page the Revolutionary war is being explained, and on the next we learn about Martin Luther King Jr. There is so much history that is being written out from between these pages.

There ARE resources available to learn more, written by those who further research information, carefully detailing certain periods in history but, to use that as a counter argument would be failing to acknowledge the reality of much more likely scenarios that are occurring. Unfortunately, the majority of people, especially young readers, aren’t reading these more detailed descriptions of history. Why read 350 pages on the War of the Roses when you can instead read two paragraphs that gives you just enough information to pass the upcoming test? Four more hours to do anything other than read a history book.

There are people whose ancestors fought in wars, were maidservants to royalty, wrote up accounts for Carnegie or Rockefeller, or were paying the same outrageous taxes that led to several revolutions.

Most of the intimate details of people’s personal history are lost. It IS possible that those details are written down somewhere in some journal, somewhere in some library or attic. But, I would argue that if the majority of people are living their lives not knowing, especially the descendants, then the word “lost” is still fully applicable. We are often told to tap into the wisdom of older generations while we can, otherwise it may become forgotten. If two generations of wisdom and traditions can be lost, how much information has been forgotten forever over thousands of years?

People pick and choose what’s important to remember and what can be tossed aside. Remember, history is written by the victors. Sometimes the most important things to remember from the past aren’t the stuff that can be found in textbooks. People make the history, people cause the events, people’s feelings lead them to actions that changed the course of history.

Maybe it’s just a personal uneasy feeling of mine realizing how little I know about my family history and the people who indirectly resulted in who I am today. Oral tradition isn’t just history of people, it is folklore, traditions, and languages. Today, our culture is largely based on what’s fast, factual, and strictly applicable to the now. It’s considered a waste of time to tell stories that don’t directly impact our lives. It’s silly to consider the beliefs of our great ancestors when it’s not used in our culture’s belief system today. Furthermore, if these stories or traditions aren’t provable based on written documentation it’s ignorant to mention.

These are the beliefs, people, feelings, decisions, and traditions that lead us exactly to where we are today. Every aspect of your life was somehow affected by those that came before you. We should not forget or write off the importance of the information that can be passed down orally by opting to put our hands over our eyes. I personally believe the kinship that is seen between people that identify with older cultures than ours is directly correlated to the level of common background and the common approach to life. The United States are full of diverse people that share many different languages and traditions, which definitely is beneficial in many ways that should be recognized, but the sense of collectivism within our society is severely lacking.

Letters are the written form of oral tradition. They aren’t history textbooks, they aren’t non-fiction books written by passionate authors, they are first-hand accounts of someone’s own experiences and views. If we began passing stories from one generation to another again, and are continuously stressing how important it is to remember, this practice would only enrich our knowledge and understanding of the world as more and more time passes.

Don’t wait until you're old to start passing on a piece of your life to others; be a catalyst for the revival of oral traditions within our culture.