Leather, addiction and Bernard Shaw

Spend some time playing with leather again last night.  I just went with the shape of the piece and came up with this necklace.  I added some elk teeth, a few beads and some blue leather for color.  I also had a clock face which I added with a bit of the blue leather for the hand.  I like how it turned out.  It is nice to have those instant gratification projects.

I have written about Gabor Maté previously here and here.  I had not seen him speak before, but we watched his Ted Talk on addiction last night and I was struck by how much like an elder his way of telling stories was.  He shared his own short comings and did not try to package it all in a tidy little package that we could put in place or buy today.  He laid out some thoughts and left them with us.  I thought it worked very well and it certainly left a lot to think on.

Found a couple of quotes I had saved from when I read "The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism" written by Bernard Shaw.  My edition is from 1928.

"Our society must not be judged by its few rebels, but by its millions of obedient subjects."  Shaw on why the existence of rebels does not mean that society has the kernels of change in their midst.  The ordinary should be judged for themselves and not by the glimmers of other they allow to shine through.  Rebels, may just be rebels and not portent of anything better to come.

"Those who like playing the god Samaritan should remember that you cannot have good Samaritans without thieves.  Saviors and rescuers may be splendid figures in hagiography and romances, but as they could not exist without sinners and victims they are bad symptoms.  The virtues that feed on suffering are very questionable virtues...there will always be plenty of need in the world for kindness, but it should not be wasted on preventable starvation and disease.  Keeping such horrors in existence for the sake of exercising our sympathies is like setting our houses on fire to exercise the vigor and daring of our fire brigades.  It is the people who hate poverty, not those who sympathize with it who will put an end to it."

Rap, a slap and a raven

Listening to "A Mile in A Mixtape" by Je2RiT obviously very inspired by Eminem, but that is not to say that this album is derivative and more that it is comfortable in that the style is familiar.

I am working through a novel by Richard Wagamese "Medicine Walk".  He is an excellent writer, but I think that I prefer his autobiographical works.  That said I am only half way through so maybe I will be surprised.

Thinking about this quote "Truth is a land without paths" by Tiziano Terzani in "Le Grand Voayage de la Vie" which I found in Looking at Mindfulness" by Christophe Andre along with the most peculiar picture by Fra Angelico (c 1400-1455) where all these disembodied hands are slapping Jesus and Mary and Saint Dominic are just hanging out doing their own thing.  This feels like it could be a good metaphor for life sometimes.

Planning out winter holiday celebrations.  We do a number of different celebrations, which spaces things out and makes them calmer.  I also like the years we can get organized and make sure to read and sing together every night in December.  I am working to find us some Cree songs to sing and in other years we have really enjoyed the book "The Return of the Light: Twelve Tales from Around the World for the Winter Solstice" so I plan to start with that book.  Sometimes I think I like planning for the holidays more than the actual holidays and try to give myself lots of time to enjoy the process.

Quotes on power, piss poor jobs and the sublime

In an ongoing effort, to clean up my space, I am going through all my books and pulling out the things that still speak to me.

George Bernard Shaw

"Lightning Walker", Chholing Taha, Cree

"All great truths begin as blasphemies"

The Elders today were talking about female power and the need to move outside of the "boat people" (European) conceptions of power and towards a traditional indigenous view.

Rosanne Barr

"The thing woman have got to learn is that nobody gives you power.  You just take it."

Marilyn Manson "Making our Lives our Own" 1991

"The perception of power is changing.  Traditionally powerful women were viewed as dangerous, devouring and castrating.  Now we are rediscovery that ancient creator definition, where power meant responsibility, care and nurturing."

Anthony Brady (nimushum my grandfather) picture

"Some people's best is piss poor."

"He had twenty years experiences.  He had one years experience twenty times."

"Black & Blue Heart" by Shawn Hunt

Ben Okri "Astonishing the Gods" I highly recommend this book.

"...You are seeking something you've already found, but you don't know it.  Such are the causes of unhappiness."

"Things are what they are.  That is their power...they are themselves.  If they meant something they would be less."

Link

"What you see (in the world around you) is what you are, or what you will become."

"On this island of our learning, what you know is something you have to do everyday and every moment."

Listening to Darc Feather "Numbs".  Not sure if I like it or not, but the lyrics are interesting.

Hope and the strawberry fast

Some pretty excited people today with the naming of the new Cabinet that includes lots of women, some indigenous Ministers and a name change for Aboriginal Affairs to Indigenous Affairs.  Lots of hopeful words around the Kumik circle.




link



I have been speaking with Sophie over the past month as I would like her to do the strawberry fast where "pubescent girls are expected to abstain from berries or berry products for one year, during which time they meet periodically with older women ("aunties" and "grannies") who instruct them about basic life skills they will need as adults..." description from "A Recognition of Being" by Kim Anderson.  I received a similar teaching from another Elder I met which who suggested that I consider doing this with Sophie.

Sophie has been thinking about it, and she is worried about giving up strawberries, but she has agreed to give up blueberries.  I am planning to give her the related teachings with her next moon time.  The Anderson book is a great reference and I appreciate that she lays out the linkages between these times of ceremony and the understanding of the sacredness and power of womanhood.  Anderson speaks to the fast as a symbol for the need to take care of what goes into our bodies because it they are sacred places and they need to be thoughtful of what goes in regardless if it is food, the people you spend your energy on or who you choose to have sex with.  It is also a teaching of self-discipline and in some versions there is an initial ceremony where "the girls are repeatedly offered berries which they much refuse" where part of the ceremony is about learning to say "no" and to make choices.  This is, she says, part of reclaiming sex as understood in the western mind and bringing it back to part of the sacred and the sacredness of the female body.  Have any of you done the berry fast?

Elders and a hug

Yesterday I was very happy to get time to go for Kumik.  The Elders started with a circle and people took turns with the feather and shared.  It is really powerful being in the circle with people and hearing their stories.  The Elder asked us to talk about the teachings we would like.  A number of people were in painful places and some others asked about the teachings of fall.  The Elders took these themes together to build the teaching.  As an aside, I don't know the protocol for talking about an Elder on-line or sharing the teaching in this forum.  This question has been bothering me for a while, but I will take precedent from a couple of thesis I have read by indigenous folks and follow in the manner of oral passage of information to identify the Elder.  Interested to hear from you if you have other thoughts.


Lennart Helje

The Elders were Bob "Seven Crows" Bourdon (Mi'kmaq) and his wife Joanne Parent.  Many thanks to them for their thoughtful words.  They spoke about the need to make manifest our beliefs, that if we say "all my relations" then we must put this into practice.  That in our moments of emotion we can go to the plants, the earth, rocks and animals to share and find comfort.  He reminded us to also give comfort back and look after our relations too.  They reminded us that our relations go through the same cycles as we do, those of bursting forth with growth and those of tiredness and endings.  The Elder reminded us that we can put our pains to the earth, like the leaves shed their leaves.  Not to forget them and treat them as garbage, but as nourishment to fuel the growth to come after the winter.  To let the snow cover them in calm and rest.  They spoke about the "good red road" and reminded us that this may not be a straight or even road and that at times it may be difficult to travel.

I also had a one on one session with the Elders.  It is amazing to have people hear you and really listen.  I raised my ongoing worry, that I could do so much more at work and that I feel guilty in those times when I don't keep asking for more work.  The Elder reminded me that I don't need to give everything, that I need to give what is needed to get a good job done and to use the extra energy in other places where I need it.  I never thought about it that way that I am not a lesser person for not giving it all.  I really needed to hear that.

We talked about Sophie and how far she has come and they shared some ideas on how to support her in her spiritual journey which is in a direction I am not sure I understand.  They told me that it is ok if her spiritual interests are something in her life I cannot directly help her with.  The mentioned helping her set up a morning ritual for herself and Sophie wants to set up a water alter for herself.  I am just going to give her space to do what she needs and try to find her the resources she requires.

We talked about my mother and her unwillingness to move on from her historic hurts and love what she has in her life today.  The Elders told me again that I need to be a mama bear and keep my cubs safe.  They said that maybe I was stuck in the christianized "honor thy mother and father" place instead of in a paradigm of a healthy mutual relationship as the ideal.  I found myself saying that I continue in the relationship because sometimes you get the nice mother and I keep in contact for that hope and they reminded me that an alcoholic can be nice too, but the alcohol will always win.  That was a pretty powerful thought for me.  The past always wins for her.

Overall, the day was dominated by a hug.  I am not a toucher and don't like to hug perople, but there was someone in the circle that was very sad and we were speaking later and she asked for a hug.  What courage that is to ask for what you need.  I gave the hug because I could not let that need go unanswered.  Her story touched me, cause we have all been there.  It brought perspective to me.  I am not where I want to be, but I am no longer in that really dark place and that is progress, even if it is not "perfection".


So overall I was pretty blessed to receive so many teachings, a good dose of perspective and enough energy to play with my children and get some chores done afterwards.  Miigwiich.

Not working for the mind

I am currently reading "Lose the Clutter, Lose the Weight" by Peter Walsh.  I usually skim these self help books quickly, mine whatever useful there is and move on but I am actually finding quite a bit to this book.  The premise is that how we feel is reflected through everyday decisions and if we are depressed or anxious these can manifest in decisions that contribute to our weight and clutter.  I also like that he is explicitly taking on the Cartesian duality "work with your mind not for it."  I have always very much worked for my mind.  If it is a decision about a healthy choice for my body and keeping doing something I am doing, I will keep doing it, even when I know I will be harming myself.  I found the idea of working with your mind and not the body working with the mind as a kind of junior partner pretty powerful. 


I was also taken with this quote "you are seldom going to be completely at ease.  Frequently, you'll get tired, frustrated, worried, sad, bored or unfocused to some degree."  I often tell myself that I will wait until things are better to make a change.  And while there is "better" and "better" even in better there will be times of worse, so waiting always for better isn't really a plan for success.  Quite a lot to think of in here and his messages of mindfulness practice fit well with the other book I am reading on the subject.  Perhaps there is a lesson in there for me?


In the mindfulness book he uses a very useful analogy about sorrow.  Beyond acknowledgement, the author speaks of diluting the sorrow, to make sure and bring other emotions into your mental space.  To have the sorrow there and part of the moment, but recognize that there also a lot of other things in the moment that you can experience.  I tried to use this last night, to put the sadness out there, not burying it or eating it, seeing it and then bringing in the other emotions of the day.  It just made a lot of sense for me. 

Still here

Walking downtown sometimes I see someone who looks a certain way or is wearing a certain thing and it makes me think that the person is indigenous or metis and I think "we are still here."  Walking around, making policy, getting lunch and moving forward.  Some of the forward is good and some less so.  Either way - still here.

Found on pinterist

from Indian Country