H is for History

History: From Latin historia; from Greek meaning inquiry, history, from histor, istor meaning knowing, learned; akin to Greek eidenai, to know.

So history is really about knowing, about being learned. It is the true story.

I have always loved history. As a child I wanted to be an archaeologist. I was most interested in the Greeks and Romans. I knew the names of battles and places, armies and generals, the gods and goddesses and myths. (I've forgotten most of what I knew.) I liked U. S. history up through the Civil War. World history, the history of England, the Caribbean. My own family history.

But history, human history, is the story of human violence. And it is written by the winners. Sad, but true. Although I still enjoy reading a biography of an historical person or a good historical novel, I'm not so thrilled as I once was.

I'm tired of the violence that is/has been perpetrated.

Yet without history, we wouldn't have story. For all story is based on a history, even if it's made up. So here's the task, to write a different kind of story based on a history without the violence. One where violence doesn't have a name. What kind of story would it be?

I'm dreaming, I know.