2010 Genealogy Resolutions?

Image: HMS Resolution in a gale, by Willem van de Velde, the Younger, circa 1678 (source)

87th EDITION OF THE Carnival Of Genealogy This year is almost over and a new decade is knocking on the door. This is the perfect time to make your New Year resolutions, goals, aims, declarations, intentions, aspirations, objectives, plans, targets, schemes, wishes, or whatever you want to call them! This issue of the Carnival of Genealogy asks us for New Years Resolutions, or whatever we wish to call them. Do I have any?

I have no problem resolving to continue my pursuit of family history. At this point in the obsession, it's almost like resolving to continue to breathe. Though I have learned enough about this pursuit that I am unable to predict what I will achieve. So resolving to achieve some end is akin to setting myself up for failure. I will uncover information about ancestors near and far. Which ancestors those will be is not up to me.

At least not entirely. Setting research priorities tends to have an effect. If I'm not looking for something, it's less likely I will find it. (At least slightly.) Those priorities can, however, change depending upon what I uncover. They could change tomorrow. However, right now my highest priorities involve a handful of vital records that I know I *should* be able to find.

I similarly have no problem with resolving to continue to blog. I've been doing it steadily since 2002 and I see no signs of stoppage. If the internet crashes, I'm likely to find somewhere else to write down my thoughts. Though I enjoy sharing them with a wider audience, because I know I have been helped by suggestions I have read on other blogs, and hope to return in kind. So hopefully the internet won't crash.

What I will blog about is less certain. I definitely see my weekly Amanuensis Monday series continuing. My recent discovery of old newspaper articles has briefly sidetracked my transcription of audio tapes and my great uncle's war journal, but I have so much material, and have received a lot of positive feedback from relatives. Transcription is something entirely within my control, which is helpful when it comes to resolutions.