Why I want a career in History.

What I'm most fascinated by history is the sheer scale of how much there is still to learn. Now, I don't mean going further and further back in time, which can be exceptionally interesting, but there are so many hidden and forgotten pasts which are just as intriguing and enthralling as those already in the collective knowledge of historians.

Everyone has a history. Everyone has a story to tell. It's those stories that get forgotten if they are only recorded in the individual libraries that are people's memories. Those stories which are worth telling (often again and again) and the ones that have lessons or meaning are so important to hear and learn about if the human race is to progress. History is an anthropological study of the past and is fundamentally about human behaviour. There's a lot of value and worth in people and far too many are forgotten.

What I would love to do with my life is preserve at least a small fraction of other people's history for future generations to learn from. That's what I loved so much about Historypin: it was creating a digital history of the world and anyone can contribute their own stories and memories to it.

I have written before about my plans to set up a community project centred around history, using Historypin as a platform and building on it. Well it seems like I wasn't the only one with that idea...

Looking through one of my favourite job sites today I found a role which is to create a history of a place using various methods over two years. As nothing concrete has been established here in Kent yet, I applied (with a large degree of enthusiasm) and will see what happens. Not sure if they will take the gamble with someone with non real experience in that sort of thing, but then I acknowledged that in my application and hopefully my passion will show through! I would definitely love the job and give it all I can!

Why there is such a negativity about the arts and heritage in the jobs market right now I don't know. At university it seemed that the only jobs in the world were Business, Economics, Marketing, Engineering, Law and IT. Those students must be laughing all the way to their cubicles in Canary Wharf. Sorry, that's just not for me.

I really want to make a difference to real people and real history. Not pushing intangible money around a spreadsheet working in an artificial world.

As the American writer Denis Waitley put it: "Chase your passion, not your pension."

Have a great weekend everyone!

Jon