Some are more sceptical of these theories. An article by Professor Ewan Birney.
You are truly far more than your genes – your DNA is not your destiny.
There is nothing new under the sun.
I have found this phrase to contain a great deal of truth and wisdom, once one begins to investigate family history. Family patterns both positive and negative can go back an awfully long way. I have also learned about something called inherited trauma.
An amazing talk about the effects of trauma by Dr Judith Landau:
Some are more sceptical of these theories. An article by Professor Ewan Birney.
You are truly far more than your genes – your DNA is not your destiny.
I have heard many disparaging comments about the study of history and yet it seems to me that if we were we all truly students of history, both our own and family history we would avoid many pitfalls. I have never forgotten the history teacher who taught me that learning about the past may help us to understand possible outcomes in the future. I have come to realise all too often families constantly repeat negative and often destructive patterns. Breaking family patterns is extremely hard but the first step is to see the patterns. Had I understood and questioned destructive family patterns earlier, I believe my own life would have benefitted, but they are at least now there for my children to see, although their own interpretation may be quite different.
I have developed a measure of respect for the plucky go-getters, who are practical and just deal with the situation at hand. I have tended to divided people into doers and thinkers. I have always respected the doers, despite being inclined towards being a thinker/dreamer myself. I was a little surprised to discover a deep and poignant poem written by somebody, whose profession seemed to indicate, he was very much a practical person. Nonetheless I do believe that some branches of the family seem to incline more towards introspection and creativity than others. It is interesting to look at family patterns and beliefs and to try to discern their origin.
The more I study family history the more I have begun to question, many of my inherited beliefs.
I have often repeated a story I once heard about a woman who continually cut the ends off her joints of meat before placing them in the oven. One day her daughter asked her why she did this. She had simply responded that she did not know but her Mother had always done it. The woman had then asked her mother, why she had always chopped the ends off her joints of meat, to which the mother also responded she did not really know but her mother had always done so. Finally the Grandmother was asked why she had always chopped the ends off her joints of meat. The Grandmother in a matter-of -fact tone explained that her oven had been too small and she had simply removed the ends of the joint to fit it in the oven.
I wonder how often we continue with family patterns and beliefs long after they have ceased to serve us?
An interesting article on the research into inherited effects of trauma.
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