Who I Am

Some people are meant for great things: accomplishments, culture-shifts, historical events. These are our heroes and our villains. Their lives help tell the tales we teach each other today in order to help understand both ourselves and our relationships.

I am not meant to be a hero or a villain. I am merely a custodian. I will care for the records which provide value and depth to our understanding of the world around us. I will not show privledge or bias on the basis of my own judgements; I will let the biases of society and culture provide me with what it will, and I will care for all of it with equal respect to the utmost of my ability. I will care for all records, regardless of format, because the manuscripts of Atwood are as important as Egoyan's camera original negatives or Model's prints.

I will probably fade from history's memory within a few generations of my family. I will not find the cure for cancer, end the "conflict" (war) in the Middle East, bring any culture to the peak or bowels of its potential along my way through life. But while I am here I believe I can be of the most appropriate, constructive use to society by being its custodian for the documentary remains of heroes and villains. It is who I am - I am an archivist.