My own thoughts on decision-making are not very linear. My first step in grappling with a decision is to leap to the end rather than the beginning. I have to visualize the end result--that end state that I believe would constitute success--before evaluating the pros and cons, examining resources and consequences, and planning any implementation. When I first started working as an archivist "processing" collections, I would agonize over every decision and over very long and balanced lists of pros and cons. I would worry over all the "what if" consequences of every decision. Once I learned to begin with the end result, the vision would guide the process as surely as a rudder on a boat. Sometimes, it even helps me to take advantage of unexpected ideas and solutions.
I spent the last weekend in Kentucky at the Appalachian Studies Association's annual conference. It gave me an opportunity to engage in my favorite part of communicating and that is listening. All the sessions on folk culture, literature, sustainable agriculture, seed saving, and food preservation were refreshing and inspired me to start thinking of our own garden and produce. Soon, we will turn this rye grass under and start planting potatoes and the seeds that we saved from last year's crop. Consider this a first report on this year's garden.
There is one other thing that I need to address. Many archivists would quarrel with the title of this blog, Archiving in Appalachia. Archives is a noun and shouldn't be changed into a verb, they say. Language like culture evolves over time and is not set in stone or captured--frozen like a bug under glass. The usage of words change. So, I use "archiving." It just sounds more pro-active. I believe that to "archive" Appalachian culture, it will take more than "keeping" documents and images. It will require people living it--replanting the seeds kept for generations, sharing beliefs, dancing the dances, singing the songs, and continuing to stretch those tall tales. For me, archive will be both noun and verb, but maybe I should consider changing the title to just "Archiving Appalachia."
