Niamo Nancy Mu’id
“All my relatives!” is how the Native American Lakota/Sioux people greet one another. Or, at least, it is a traditional greeting among them and others. I am reminded about it because two days ago was the earth-day of a near relative by marriage, and when I saw him yesterday he looked the exact opposite of the two smiling faces above. Despite my opinion and that of other family members that he may have a cocaine addiction, I still embrace him, “all my relatives.”
Somewhat like “namaste” --the divinity in me salutes the divinity in you--”all my relatives speaks to every one of us and reminds us we are connected. So though my dear relative is hurting real bad, I still recognize and acknowledge the divinity in him, though he may not right now.
When sadness or anger at one’s self becomes overwhelming, what do you do? I typically bury feelings I can’t cope with, and get VERY busy. Dreams deferred not only explode, as Hughes painted it, they also implode. Maybe this is one reason I’ve been tracking my dreams of late, to double-check what I’m suffering and how I’m burying.
All my relatives bring me back to the moment, on this April Fools Day, and it is heartening to know many more of us, despite appearances, are not fooled. Navigating a world where a too-high portion of the population thinks that I or my relatives are bad or worthless, animal-like or childlike because of this population’s plantation training, I can innerstand this: the truly sane ones will do suicidal stuff just to make sure they ARE alive. Push the envelope, so to speak in white-collar parlance.
The envelope is an apt symbol for how we appear in the world (I didn’t even catch the ‘push’ pun at first). I pray for each person to come now, brightly shining in the best memory/notion of your Self, mirror the happiness of Toure and Namibia above, and glow, glow, glow your special envelope out to the world. Dr. Fu Kiau said each one of us is a package--that’s much bigger than an envelope. His Self-Healing Power and Therapy is an excellent book that talks about the why of all of the above.
Ooohhh, you are SOOO big. Just be with that.
786
This is my son Toure’ and daughter Namibia, on the occasion of her graduation from Douglass College last year. I have a lot to be thankful for.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
All My Relatives
