Whether you’ve realised it or not we’re changing the way we write history. In years gone by our history books were written by the wealthy and elite. The lives of everyday people where seen through a periscope of privilege, with glimpses of ordinary lives seen only through letters or a second hand perspective.

 
In the last century our society has changed far beyond what our great grandparents could have even imagined. Two world wars, the birth of the NHS, race and gender liberation movements. Now I’m not saying we’re living in a utopia by any means. There is still work to be done, but we living in very different times. Our problems are different our happiness is different.

 
Over the last twenty years our communication had been revolutionised. From facebook and beyond we’re documenting our thoughts and feelings daily, sometimes hourly. The online world is full of pictures of our food, videos of our pets and those all-important selfies. But if you take the time to look beyond all that you will see our collective heartbeat. The petitions we sign to try and make the world a better place, the thank yous and goodbyes to the people we’ve loved. With every event we attend and pictures we post we’re signing into history. We’re saying, we were here.

 
I look to my parents, both of whom grew up in a world I would not recognise. Social media has always been focussed on the young. We’re the instant generation, perhaps not taking the time we should to learn about what has happened before we matured. We live just as much online as we live in the physical world and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

 
The knowledge and wisdom of our parents and grandparents does not have the same platform as ours. The strides we’ve taken in technology during their lifetime has been incredible. Long gone are the buried time capsules in the Blue Peter garden. We need to think of a new way to learn how it felt to live before we did.
My good friend Brian Franklin and his company Guildhall Pictures are making a ground breaking documentary, book and a related multimedia project to tap into the generation before us.

 
The premise is very simple: to capture knowledge. By taking the time to interview the over 60’s about their life experience, asking them 3 very important questions: What is your greatest achievement to date? In life, what has been your greatest regret? If you could give one piece of advice to people watching this, what would it be?
You can find out more in this video and if you think the project is as important as I do you can donate to the project here:
And if you or someone you know would like to be interviewed for the project please contact Brian on: brian@sniop.co.uk