call on kin
Art by Antonie Sminck Pitloo, “The Grotto of Posillipo at Naples”
When we speak of ancestors, we are speaking of those who walked this very earth before us. Just as much as we speak about the winds, the rocks, the waters who have been here all along, have seen it all, and are too, our kin.
It’s important that we conjure the memories, stir the imaginations, awaken the remembrances of those who came before us. Of the kinds of lives they lead, times they survived, triumphs and terrors they lived through. Of the flirtations and feasts and adornments. The holy days, the labors of work, the sensations of travel. The ordinary responsibilities of each day, and how it differs and yet mirrors our own.
It is important to reach into the far pocket of mind where these imaginable ancestral memories have been collecting dust. Not just a whimsical activity for those with idle time, but an imperative undertaking for the sake of a collective future. If we do not understand our lives in the context of all who walked before us, if we do not look down and see whose shoulders we stand precariously upon… how far might we stand to fall?
Gather the strength of your lineage. Dream into your history. Our history. Dare to look at what you may fear to know, fortify yourself in understanding. In compassion, gratitude, and respect. Carve time to dive into your DNA, remember where you came from. Gather courage and soak in the deep responsibility of knowing that their time has past — your time is now.
And then ask yourself, as Mary Oliver would, “what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
