The Bloodline

This project has always been on and off for me. I’ve always been envious of families who have an illustrious and detailed history of their ancestry. Generations and generations of stories, struggle and success helping defining and shaping the next generation. This blog is appropriately titled “Defining Van” for a reason. It is a way for me to explore my inner most thoughts and explore things that I might often neglect. I am a very nostalgic person. I’m always dreaming about the past. Not only my past, but the past in general. I’m always wondering about what decisions were made by me and those who came before me that have put me in a position I am today. It holds keys to the the very decisions I make today and probably even tomorrow.

This family tree is a manifestation of my desire to unlock secrets about my past and visualize who I am connected to. People always say how increasingly small the world is getting through technology and it’s impact on society. Yet, here I am completely clueless about my bloodline.

There are many obstacles I already expect to run into. I still need to define how in depth I want to explore my extended family. I am already expecting that this will be a very decentralized map of my family. How do I visually present information about my family line (ie. sex, age, divorce, death, seperation, etc.)

I already expect this to be overwhelming, especially in the research phase… but I’m trying.