Wisdom sits in places
Jul. 15th, 2004 09:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
twilight33This is the name of an excellent anthropology book I'm reading for class, about the concept of how associations/stories about places cement cultural meaning to the Cibecue White Mtn. Apaches in Arizona. I finished the book earlier this week & we've been talking about it for several weeks, but actually understanding this concept hit last night when my blood ran cold after finding & reading a poem written by my 3x great-aunt about her parents' divorce.
Divorce runs rampant in my family, although I didn't realize it went that far back. I think part of the reason nobody ever talked about my family's past with me in detail is because of all the broken marriages associated with those places, where they move, start over and try to forget the past. I certainly understand that.
We all have those relatives who tell the same stories over & over again, mine was my grandpa about WWII for the most part. We sigh and pretend to listen, but somewhere inside us we're registering what they have to say, the lessons they have learned, and maybe sometime in the future we'll see a set of circumstances in our own lives that will remind us of what they faced and consider our actions carefully as a result.
It takes humility to admit we make mistakes, and that's something our society seems to do everything in its power to cloak in order to appear to be right. What is wise is not the appearance of being perfect, but making the mistakes, admitting & learning but not dwelling upon them, then moving forward with stories to tell our children and grandchildren later as a living history of who you are as a person and how that weaves us together as a family.
I am a writer, but Kieran has taught me how to talk about the world we live in. I will not be silent about my own and my family's stories along the way, and hopefully he and maybe future family members will have a better foundation for life ahead as a result.
Divorce runs rampant in my family, although I didn't realize it went that far back. I think part of the reason nobody ever talked about my family's past with me in detail is because of all the broken marriages associated with those places, where they move, start over and try to forget the past. I certainly understand that.
We all have those relatives who tell the same stories over & over again, mine was my grandpa about WWII for the most part. We sigh and pretend to listen, but somewhere inside us we're registering what they have to say, the lessons they have learned, and maybe sometime in the future we'll see a set of circumstances in our own lives that will remind us of what they faced and consider our actions carefully as a result.
It takes humility to admit we make mistakes, and that's something our society seems to do everything in its power to cloak in order to appear to be right. What is wise is not the appearance of being perfect, but making the mistakes, admitting & learning but not dwelling upon them, then moving forward with stories to tell our children and grandchildren later as a living history of who you are as a person and how that weaves us together as a family.
I am a writer, but Kieran has taught me how to talk about the world we live in. I will not be silent about my own and my family's stories along the way, and hopefully he and maybe future family members will have a better foundation for life ahead as a result.
