What is History discussion wrap up

On Tuesday the 7th we started our discussion reflecting on the question "What does history mean to you?" There were alot of fantastic reflections on this topic, I however never did share what history means to me, I will do that now. History to me is the discovery of "the others" We discussed in class that history has been mostly written by the winners, mostly white men. Because rich victorious white men have written alot of history, most of what we know is about rich victorious white men. I do not like that, I do not care about the history of rich victorious white men, I am very curious about the others.
A phrase I like to use is "history from the bottom up." This means that instead of studying the stories of kings and queens, we would look at the stories of peasants and serfs. I think we can learn so much more about a society or an ancient civilization by studying the people that make that society or civilization run. Of course studying the poor or middle class poses a problem in that until recently, historians did not care about recording their stories, so our sources are limited.
That is one answer that I have. Another answer is to provide an understanding. By studying history from the bottom up, I can provide a better understanding of my purpose, my reason for being. Not only do I better understand my purpose, I can understand the lens through which I interpret everyday events, I can also better understand my involvement and interaction with others. Long story short, I believe that your interpretation of the past, does effect how you act today and tomorrow.