Tomorrow is Thanksgiving! Thinking about it, I have always enjoyed Thanksgiving more than any other holiday. (does that classify it as my favorite?). I think about it, and this is the time that I have almost always been able to be with my entire immediate family, and then the ONLY time that I've EVER seen aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. When I was younger, Mom had this awesome wall poster that had the "first" thanksgiving with Indians and pilgrims going about their business on that day, and I used to love looking at it and trying to imagine what they were thinking and try to animate them in my mind - as if I were there! I loved hearing stories of the mysterious Indians coming and taking the pilgrims under their wings and teaching them how to live in this wild country- it's truly a beautiful story in my opinion. To this day I am utterly enthralled with the ways of the natives here in America! I love all the different colors on the trees, I love sloshing my feet through the piles of leaves, and I love the scent in the air! I love all the pumpkin and cinnamon, I love the Stuffing on the Thanksgiving table! And I love being a 'WHOLE family'! This year, however, Jenna and Pouria will not be with us. This year they are pilgrims adventuring in their own new life together as the best friends and loves-of-eachother's-lives that they are. They are discovering new territories, and that is a lovely thing. So, while physically they will not be with us, they will be in our hearts. When you love someone, they are always with you, and that is a very great thing. So we will all be together in spirit, and be joyful on this day: us in Tennessee, and Jenna and Pouria in Colorado.
In Cherokee, the word for Thanksgiving (Unlidelisdi) is a form of the word "We are happy" (Alihelisdi)! I thought that that was awesome, so I am writing it down so that I always remember it...
What a beautiful and warm entry! I'm so glad to be in Colorado because the awareness and appreciation for Native Americans (Indians) is much more noticed and practiced here. I am deeply touched by their wisdom and their connectedness with Nature. Everyday I learn something new from the Shamans. It is a shame that many have so conveniently forgotten the Native American holocaust. So I appreciate your acknowledgments and your awareness toward the people whom homes we invaded and forced their beliefs and ways of life out of them. Thankfully, their spirituality lives on and have indirectly enriched the souls in this land. Everyday is a Thanksgiving when we realize how miraculous it is to be alive and to be able to breathe the four winds (North, West, South and East) the Apache, Navajo and the Hopi tribes consider as Spirit moving through us.
ReplyDeleteYOU MUST read David Abram's book "The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World "
READ the chapter on "AIR"!!! (forgot the exact chapter title, but it's towards the back of the book and has the word AIR :-))
I miss you and love you so much. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. :-)