What would you create?

Around the pond at Breezy Acres (in northeast Ohio, last week).

That’s the trouble with people. their root problem.  Life runs alongside them, unseen.  Right here, right next.  Creating the soil.  Cycling water.  Trading in nutrients.  Making weather.  Building atmosphere  Feeding and curing and sheltering more kinds of creatures than people know how to count.

… If your mind were only a slightly greener thing, we’d drown you in meaning.

~ when the trees speak in The Overstory by Richard Powers

In the morning light. (Trees here on the Eastern Shore, yesterday.)

A month or two ago, I watched a series of interviews with a variety of people who participated in the Honor {Don’t Appropriate} Yoga Summit.  Included was an interview with Charlotte Nguyen.  Her bio includes “a transformational coach, spiritual adviser, activist and the pint-sized daughter of Vietnamese refugees.”  She asked a question that I have been pondering since I heard it:  “What would you create if you didn’t appropriate?”

A walk by the pond where the willows and hemlocks we planted years ago are becoming giants.

I did the Ancestry DNA testing last year.  Whenever I’d see an advert for it, I’d pipe up, saying I’d like to do that sometime, just out of curiosity and so, M gifted me with a kit.  I am mostly Irish followed by a mix from England, Scotland, and Wales.  The other about-a-third of my ancestry comes from Eastern Europe and Russia, the Baltic States, with a tiny bit of DNA from Sweden and Germany.  There were no real surprises here (I knew I was a mutt or a mix of European) other than finding out I am more Irish than I thought I was.

Enjoying a second spring with the daffodils in northeast Ohio.

I am extremely white, in other words. As someone who rejected the culture she grew up in (white, Catholic, plenty bigoted), I’ve long been interested in other cultures and the question of appropriation has been one that I have asked myself about frequently as I study other spiritual practices.  Years ago I had a Native American friend and teacher, and I felt uncomfortable learning the practices he was teaching because it didn’t feel right to be stealing from a culture that my ancestors had abused, even if those teachings were freely offered.  I switched to studying pre-Christian Celtic spirituality for a while which is probably more appropriate given my ancestry.  In some ways, that suited me and there are aspects of it I still carry with me or practice in some way.  I truly am a pagan at heart.  Or perhaps animist would be a better word for it.

Crabapple tree blossoms.

I came across an article (I’m sorry, I can’t find it now) that mentioned how white folks who came to the U.S. were, over time, forced to choose between their own culture and assimilating into U.S. culture which was defined (in the article) as a patriarchal white supremacy culture.  The claim is that with the loss of their own culture, people have had to appropriate practices from other cultures.  I don’t know if that’s true.  I know plenty of people whose ancestors came from somewhere in Europe who celebrate and pass on traditions from their culture.  I think the article may have been another excuse or attempt at justification for what we’re seeing here in the U.S. lately in terms of bigotry and xenophobia.  But that’s just my opinion which probably isn’t worth much (not even a cup of coffee).

How amazingly lucky I am to experience two springs!

Appropriation from other cultures has been going on for a very long time (the Romans and then the Christians were really good at it).  I have lots of confusion and questions, but no answers when it comes to cultural appropriation.  All I can do is listen and learn from others who have knowledge  and wisdom from experiences that I’ll never have.

The dogwood dreams.

I have thought a lot about Ms. Nguyen’s question while out on my walks lately.  I have thought a lot about it while I continue my yoga and meditation practices.  What would I create if I didn’t appropriate? I don’t know if it would be possible to create without appropriating from someone or something.  I don’t think there is such a thing as a pure anything anymore.  Art, music, religion, dance, education, poetry, and more all borrow something from someone.

Stars that fell to earth and learned to live as spring flowers.

Our destruction of biodiversity and ecosystem services has reached levels that threaten our wellbeing at least as much as human-induced climate change. We have a closing window of opportunity to act, and narrowing options.

~ Robert Watson, Chair of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (if interested, there is a short summary of some of the IPBES report here)

People aren’t the apex species they think they are. Other creatures-bigger, smaller, slower, faster, older, younger, more powerful-call the shots, make the air, and eat sunlight. Without them, nothing.

~ Richard Powers, The Overstory

On the subject of creating, one thing I have considered lately is what I, and what we, might create when it comes to the future of politics.  There is something called the Tipping Point for the spread of ideas and the rule of a minority.  I’ve read about it in a couple of places now and find it fascinating.  According to this article, it only takes ten percent of the population with an unshakable belief to spread that belief to the majority of the population.  Ten percent.  Imagine, that.  When more and more people become convinced that change is needed, and ideas begin to spread about how that change can be accomplished, change starts to happen.

Beautiful dreamers.

If I were an outsider looking in on the U.S., I could easily be convinced that the people of this country value guns and gun rights over lives.  They value guns and gun rights over the health, safety, security, and well-being of their children.  They value whiteness over diversity.  They value cheap and disposable products over the health, safety, security, and well-being of the planet.  They value their own convenience and conveniences over leaving a healthy planet for those who come after us.  They value immediate gratification over long-term planning.  They value money over everything else.

What would happen if ten percent of us started to give voice to our unshakable belief that these are not our values?  That we are not separate from nature?  That we do care about future generations?  Surely there must be enough of us by now to create some kind of tipping point.

We need new stories, I think.  A new mythology.  Maybe a new kind of spirituality.  We need to become indigenous, to recognize that we are not separate from nature.

Daffodils in the woods, telling each other stories.

I donated to Marianne Williamson’s campaign.  I don’t believe she’ll manage to get the nomination, but I wanted to donate to someone whose policies and platform are as close as I think I’ll get to what I believe.  Just her stand on food issues alone is enough to make me vote for her.  She needs 1,296 more separate donations in order to be included in the DNC debates.  Even $1 will do.  I am not suggesting or advising anything.  Just putting the information out there.

Out for a swim with their mum.

That’s enough from me for one day.  Thank you so much for stopping by, reading, and looking.  As you can tell from most of the photos, I recently spent some time in the Bogs (NE Ohio).  M and I were visiting with our children and grandchildren.  M also did a lot of the landlord type stuff (repairing the roof, fixing the drain in the pond, and about a thousand other things).  It was wonderful to spend time with everyone.

It’s been getting rather cloudy this afternoon but you never know what will happen by sunset.  If it looks good, let’s go to the Point.  I haven’t been out there in a while.  Sunset is scheduled for 8:00 PM.  On the nose.  (Sunrise this morning, by the way, was exactly at 6:00 AM.  On the nose.)  It’s very warm today.  Shorts and t-shirt kind of warm.  You’ll need insect repellent, too.  The small black flies, deerflies, and mosquitoes are all converging at once this year.  The breeze by the water might keep down the attacks.  It usually does.

Be good, be kind, be loving.  Just Be.  🙂

This happened while I was away. I was surprised to see them blooming already since they were just buds when I went a’traveling.

A few of the 10,000 reasons to be happy:  1,061) The strong sense of interconnectedness I’ve been feeling lately.  It makes life feel richer, more layered.  1,062) Time with family, always.  1,063) A second experience of early spring.  1,064) Cherry jellybeans.  1,065) Peonies, irises, and roses, all blooming here now.

Delicate beauty.