: : : packing and unpacking ~ some thoughts on the Mosaicly Minded

Mosaicly minded

Missing Missives Part 2 - taken from a series of letters to my dad ~

I am packing to leave on a plane and unpacking some of life’s experience, namely conflict and how to work with what we see out there.

When I got back from Mexico last November, I was hiking one of my favorite trails when I came across a mother and son hiking in the opposite direction. The young man had a very old-timey camera which was quite an instrument and I couldn’t help but inquire into it. It was quite the conversation starter. We chatted about the camera for a while, and then, because we had established rapport, the woman mentioned that I should check out the wall built by natives some 50 feet ahead and where they used to trap game. I was shocked, having been up and down this loop umpteenbadrillion times and having never imagined such a relic.  But also because sightings of indigenous artifacts are so very rare in our country.

I can’t help but contrast that with the vibrant last few weeks that have been enhanced by lavish ceremonies and parades around this time of year celebrating any number of things but that always have the presence of the indigenous communities as a substantial portion. There wasn’t a single weekend in the last month when I didn’t stumble upon a road closure and get to experience the trance dance of what were mostly Chichikan and Otomi tribes. And although my Mexican friend reminds me that classism is very much alive and that indigenous people are a very low wrung on the ladder, there is something that keeps these practices, rituals, dances, ceremonies, and artwork, perpetually woven into the fabric of the culture. 68 Indigenous Peoples, each speaking their own native language and comprising 15.1 percent of the population (vs 2 percent in the US), and not just sequestered on a reservation but living, breathing, pounding pavement, doing their thing, along the streets and corridors that all come to pass.

The differences can be seen and felt everywhere you look. There is art and ceremony and reference to this rich part of Mexican culture almost every time you turn around. The festivals that I happened upon were a weaving together of native practices, costume, and dance, as well as Catholicism, celebrations of harvest, and the locals “loco” dance which came as a creative middle finger to the church and its attempts to bring more seriousness to religious practices. It’s such a beautiful representation of history, the inherent cause and effect of human action and behavior, and the intricate layers of life.

What a stark contrast to the US where I was in shock that there was even a wall - much less people conducting ancient ceremony. It feels important at this juncture in time to understand the implications and causation of this void. The erasure that was the western and “civilized” nations’ reaction to indigenous people erases along with it a lot of wisdom not to mention protection of environment. We are seeing this extinction across the planet, but it feels heavy to really grok the erasure of a whole people that was the nation building history of the United States. It is trendy- and good on one level- to name the tribes that used to be on the land we sit upon, but it can feel like a relief to one’s soul to see so many of these people still doing their thing, and woven in amongst the rest of the Mexican population on an almost weekly basis this last month. One experiences this overlay also in the architecture, and food and perhaps most especially in the values.

This moment in time is ripe with opportunity for humanity, should we choose it.

To really understand that we possess in our DNA the capacity to take out a population and to eliminate all signs of their existence is to start to understand how something like the situation in Gaza can take place. This part of our history can allow for a subconscious allowance and even normalization and justification of this racism and the eradication of a people. I don’t think we can underestimate the power of where we have been. To start to divest our consciousness and see the justification and sneaky, shadowy racism is to begin to see clearly the realities of what we are facing. There is no other way that such atrocities would be allowed. This clear sight is the unpacking so desperately needed on planet earth.

The colonial consciousness is one that must be witnessed, unpacked, unshamed, extricated, and thrown to the fire. Otherwise, it will fester and continue to  wreak havoc even when we think we are “good doing”.

Until there is universal care for all in equal measure, we have not finished divesting our own minds.

And these strands of mind can be so tricky- the conscious mind is not always aware of what is inherited. We in the west carry a part of this divide-and-conquer mentality that was extremely practiced in the conquest of native lands and lives. This is not a pretty reality, but one that must be looked at with brutal honesty.

What else contributed to such a horrific circumstance?

It is always the responsibility of the most powerful “man” in the room, first and foremost. If we lived in a world that was more concerned with the well being of all people and planet  (indigenous practices and values) instead of how to secure its flow of fossil fuels and control, then this would not be such an issue. But today we see the imprint of colonialism as world leaders attempt (to no avail) to dominate and control the lives and actions of others.

The Balfour Declaration by the British Government in 1917 during the First World War announced its support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an Ottoman region with a small minority Jewish population.

Psychology 101 tells us what happens when a parent favors one child over the rest and this imbalance creates a dynamic that is not easily remedied and most often felt throughout the lifetime of those siblings.

If you are the most powerful man in the room - and especially if you are dealing with an inflamed situation, you MUST work diplomatically and with care to hold all the nuance and complexity of the situation. To continue to perpetuate the patterns of bullying and oppression is short-sighted and lacking in not only wisdom, but character (not to mention, the compromised nature it puts one in from accepting money from lobbyists…there is so much to say here but i’ll leave it at that).

These times are taking- begging- screaming- for something else.

The world is listening.

It does seem as though the young people, as well as the majority of the planet sees through these archaic and barbaric tactics, and we are on the brink of a REAL REVEAL.

The unveiling of generations upon generations and subconscious blindness to injustice (not just of natives but of women as well).

With these injustices, the trickle of trauma clouds peoples vision - and especially hearts- and has them live inside retaliatory mind oscillating between victim and oppressor. And justifying death and killing as if life isn’t the most precious thing.
As many are still working out the defensiveness of their own lineage, patience and compassion - and hella good boundaries- will get us far.

The Westerner/colonizer has built ivory towers and avenues for distraction in work, lifestyle, and even spirituality, that would have us turn a blind eye as if these things do not effect us. This is the definition of privilege. But our world is burning in every way imaginable. The US has higher suicide levels than ever, sever problems with homelessness, raging levels of childhood depression, still no national healthcare system, and an ever increasing divide between he haves and the have-nots.

It is popular in the states to do plant medicine and explore segments of indigenous ways, but these explorations are often cherry picked without understanding context or greater value systems of these people and the origins of what they enjoy. And I am certainly one of them (minus the plant medicine part).
So how can we come to know more of these people and this way of life?

My whole life, I heard stories about a Cherokee lineage on my maternal side and some of the trials and tribulations that my ancestors underwent but my genetic test never showed anything indigenous so I was perplexed. Last year, traveling through California , my dear friend helped me plug in my data with a more nuanced website and sure enough, there it was! I am the card-free carrying ancestor with a whopping .51%. It oddly felt like such a proud and validating moment somehow even through that’s hardly a level to blow your kazoo about.

But here’s the thing- we all came from people that were closer to the land and most likely had a greater sense of community, as this was a prerequisite to survival.

And the US gets a lot of things right. We have incredible innovation and creative thought that could help us catapult into deeper understanding. If the US and Mexico were friendlier, we could learn from their values of familia and community, and maybe give a few tips about environmental efficacy (although we still have quite a ways to go here).

This is again, the responsibility of the most powerful ‘man’ in the room. (Which will most likely soon be a woman, in the case of Mexico!!).

((See the unpacking in the yogic, energetic, relational/ polarity realms MM part 3 for that one…)) …

—>> But until then, maybe there is a way that we can take radical responsibility for the safety of this moment by protecting what is indigenous to us. How can we sit on the cushion and feel all the way back to the primordial spark that is the initial indigenous moment (we entertained this notion in the last meditation series- there will be another option for that again soon:)). When our trajectory has gotten so far away from the originality of it all, can we pause and remember. Can we sit long enough to feel all the places of heart bleed that happened along the way? Of departure and oppression, of not belonging, being punished and punishing right back. And the happy byproduct of this deep internal inquiry is that when we see that injustice happening outside of us, we are compelled to take a stand. We can hold our privilege in perspective and not an excuse for further disconnect. Our planet and our people depend on it and depend on some kind of safety and equanimity.

In Buddhism , we offer our efforts to the benefit of all sentient beings.How can we say these things from the cushion and inside of the cushioned rooms, but also further afield. Those of us born into this moment on this planet, have a pressing agenda. We are a global world- where does this buddhist notion intersect with indigenous systems and women’s intuition as well as our own circuitous expression of life? These parts and players and voices of life are not separate but live inside. How can we take this mélange of wild ingredients and make some sort of soup that will nourish? Instead of all the othering and separation, what would it take to truly pick up all the broken pieces and build the mosaic? Can we start to imagine? I hope you will imagine with me. Because that is the bridge. That is the beginning of the way that has no path. Social and environmental systems being what they are, ask of us our imagination and global connection. I hope I see you on the trail.

Then we can drop to our knees and say and mean- I am so sorry for any of the parts of me or for anyone that came before me in my lineage, that pillaged raped or revenged in any way, myself, another or any part of the planet. Please forgive me. And precious me, that was pillaged, raped, and revenged upon, you are worthy beyond belief and did not deserve an ounce of that.

These indigenous people in our midst (and in our interiors) are the torch bearers. They should not only NOT be sequestered away, but are deserving of our greatest respect and ever deeper attempts for real and lasting atonement. And not in a way that further manages them, but in the ways that listen and give presence to.

The more we listen and integrate. The more we will evolve away from othering and fragmentation. The fragments will always be there but they can be coalesced into something as beautiful as a mosaic- all the parts an intricate and intimate piece of the whole.

Whether or not we attain such beauty is left to be seen, but I must say, the momentum I hear and feel from so many toward such an aim is gaining clarified and brilliant intention. Here’s to making art out of life. And life out of art….

And along those lines…..

The summer series at Eldorado Springs Art Center begins NEXT WEEK~

Two VERY powerful parts integration facilitators can be art and nature…. and when the 2 occur simultaneously?…. double boom. Double boon.

The summer series will run this year from June 6- July 25.

ARTFUL FLOW ~
9.30am
8 Chesebro Way
All levels welcome

*** BYOMat (as well as towel, if'n you wanna dip in the creek with us after ~ )

And come enjoy the sweetest crew for yin at YOGAPOD Central on Monday nights. We are back in the swing this coming Monday :))

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These are not easy times, but inside the chaos and confusion, lies a seed. Let’s see what sort of life expression, integration, and mosaic mind, might be possible.

All the love,

Julia