Turtle Island and Cultural Diversity

Turtle Island is my home too. I call it that even though my ancestors are not first nations, because I like it. It speaks to me.

I have learned much of first nations traditions since my teen years, so I don’t appreciate it when I’m lumped in with others of my race or heritage who do not know or understand other cultures. In fact, I think it’s a bad idea to paint all people of any race or cultural heritage with the same wide brush, no matter who you or they are. 

If you wish to divide people, start by dividing them this way: there are those who seek knowledge, understanding and enlightenment amongst all peoples, and celebrate cultural diversity. Then there those who are ignorant and fearful of anything that differs from the narrow confines of the comfortable world with which they are intimately familiar. This division is not racial or cultural, it is spiritual.

There are many ways in which all peoples are the same: we all want peace, prosperity, and love. And there are many ways we differ, because we have grown up in different cultures, with different beliefs, different foods and habits because of differing climates and different life experiences. We do not need to be divided. This is a choice; most often the choice of those who fear differences.

There are good and bad people in every race and culture in the world. Racism is not the purview of one race.  I have heard it uttered from the mouths of haters of several races, including first nations people, like the ones who call those interested in their culture "wannabes." You know, just because someone tries to learn something about other cultures does not mean they are attempting to change who they are. As I said at the outset, I have learned a lot about native culture. It interests me because there are many similarities with the culture of my Celtic ancestors. I am proud of my heritage and I would trade it for no other. But see, the sacred circle isn’t unique to native American culture. Have you ever heard of Stonehenge? That was my people.

I don’t understand why some people guard their culture so jealously. Out of one side of their mouths, they may say they want people to learn more about them. But out of the other, they accuse people of plagiarism if they have learned something they wish to embrace in their own lives. Ok, I get how annoying it is when the important symbols of a culture are cheaply copied and misused, like those dream-catchers that are made in China and sold in dollar stores.  But see, neither the manufacturers of those, nor the people who buy those, have any spirit.  At least, they haven't found theirs.  And that is their problem.  The rest of us who know better need to keep moving ahead.  So really, you can’t have it both ways.  Either you want to be appreciated, or you want to hide yourself away.  Leadership is about sharing and guiding, not about controlling and dividing others.

I come from a culture that was doing very well until another culture invaded from the south. Adopting the ways of these new people was not a matter of learning and choice, it was forced upon my ancestors. And then along came a new religion, also from the south, and my ancestors were told that their beliefs, talismans, observance of the earth’s seasons, was somehow wrong. Bishop Desmond Tutu has been quoted as saying, "When the missionaries came to Africa, they had the Bible and we had the land. They said ‘let us pray.’ We closed our eyes. When we opened them, we had the Bible and they had the land."

The same thing happened to my ancestors too.  The first nations people of Turtle Island are not unique in this.  There has been much suffering all over the world because one culture has oppressed and/or enslaved others, sometimes in the name of prophets who were actually all about peace and love.

Choice. It’s something most of us have. We can embrace each other as brothers and sisters and celebrate our samenesses and our differences, or we can be ill-informed, fearful, jealous and hateful. Choice.

Leadership. It’s about caring. I would be living now near a great ugly garbage dump built on farm land over an aquifer of pure water, were it not for the leadership of the local first nations people who took up the fight against this travesty with spirit and determination and carried the protest to a successful conclusion. That’s leadership.

I choose the way of enlightenment. I do not fear other cultures. I learn all I can because there are many things the same that all our ancestors have gone through, and there are exciting, fascinating, and dare I say, delicious differences to celebrate. I do not care what other people believe or who or what they worship, it is their choice. But my choice is to go unlabelled through this life, unburdened by the yoke of a religion whose followers often twist the words and image of their prophets into something they were not, just to further their own selfish agendas. I take joy in observing the seasons of this great gift of Earth and I have a deep, unshakable faith that all things are possible. My spirit soars when I am in the moment of observing the beauty around me. I am saddened that some people are blind to it, or in fact, choose to spread ugliness.

The problem is not cultural diversity. The problem is ignorance. Only when we abandon that will people of all cultures rise to celebrate together.

Post Script: 
The above was written in response to a specific post, but while I'm on the subject of cultural diversity, I wish to express my sadness toward those who insist upon blaming all of Islam for the actions of a relative few Islamic terrorists.  Islamic terrorists are to Islam what the KKK is to Christianity.  Fear and hatred can only stop with YOU.  Credit to The West Wing for the analogy. 

On Stupidity

I think it’s just interesting the way this word gets used these days... as a weapon. Like the way one group of people will refer to another specific group of people, with whom they disagree, as being "stupid." 

Stupid, in the dictionary, means someone who is slow at learning or understanding/someone possibly incapable of learning/someone in a stupor. Ignorant, another fun word, means someone who is quite capable of learning, but really hasn’t bothered.

Newsflash: not agreeing with you does not make that other group of people stupid. Chances are they are just people with different points of view, experiences and concerns than you. Perhaps these are even agonizing concerns that have had them dealing with information, problems and worries about which you are completely ignorant.

If this is the case, the only stupid thing here is the intentional and mean-spirited misuse of the word, "stupid," especially when it comes out of people who should know better, but apparently don’t mind demonstrating that they do not know, and are indeed, not capable of better.

Another thing I’ve seen from some people, who are supposed to be intelligent, is intentionally posting very mean-spirited, uncomplimentary, accusatory pictures, targeting those with whom they disagree.

Does the personal attack of how someone looks, or what they do for a living, or what they believe in, add a convincing element to any argument, or to the issues at hand? I think not. Mean, is just mean. And bullying is just bullying. And yes, meanness is not just stupid, but downright mindless. And bullying is never justified.

So here’s an idea: before you lecture someone else on what’s what in your tiny, perfect world, step outside yourself enough to at least appreciate what the other person may be going for, or may even be going through. The former is called "grasp." That’s the ability to see what the other person is actually trying to say, not just what your narrow perceptions tell you they’re trying to say. The latter is about compassion. Ok, look that one up. You may indeed be ignorant, but we’re supposed to believe you aren’t actually stupid.

　

Scientific Priorities ~ Take a Wee Bite of This Apple, My Pretty

It’s funny how you can go online, research almost anything, and not only will there be information on the thing that interests you, there will be arguments pro and con, containing all kinds of accusations toward those arguing the other side. So it’s take your pick: squishy science, or ridiculous priorities.

Ridiculous? Well, yeah. See, right now someone is dying of pneumonia. Yeah, we used to be able to cure that with an advent known as antibiotics. But what happens when you invent a medicine that kills a germ, is that the germ gets stronger to the point where the medicine no longer works. So then you have to invent a stronger medicine, or you’re right back where you started.

Problem is, no pharmaceutical company is working on that stronger, better antibiotic right now. At least, this according to a news story I watched on television a few nights ago. Why? Because there’s no money in it. Wide-eyed, the reporter said, "you’d think someone would want to also consider the good of humanity, but it appears that the bottom line, is just about profit."

Yeah. But hey, take heart, because your apples will no longer turn brown when you cut them and leave them exposed to air. Of course, all you had to do to prevent this before was sprinkle them with a little lemon juice, but that’s too much like work, right? So now you don’t have to knock yourself out ~ you can leave that franken apple sit around as long as you like and it will remain pristine. And that’s important. Right?

I guess it must be. And I guess there’s money in that. It must seem awfully appetizing to somebody. Of course, I’m not one of the people who’ll be buying franken apples, because I keep lemon juice in my fridge. I’m also on a vegan diet, of necessity, so the prospect of eating fruit that’s been crossed with the DNA of a snake’s belly or something equally fun, is just not attractive to me. I’d also much rather see these scientists working on a better antibiotic, or trying to figure out how to get aluminum and formaldehyde out of vaccines. Alas, there’s no profit in that.

 

Enjoying good health? Good for you. Unafraid of GMO foods? Stick to your guns. And take a wee bite of this apple, my pretty.

On Love... The Rules and Regulations

Huh?

Someone on Facebook commented that they "loved" the food they’d created. One of their "friends" reprimanded her, telling her that you can’t "love" food. You love your lover and your family, but you can’t "love" food.

I wonder who died and put her in charge of love.

I don't know what that other person's motivation was for loving her food, but I'm going to respect her feelings.  See, I love my food too. I do.  I have auto-immune disease and can no longer have so many of the foods I grew up eating. They are simply off-limits. When I ate those old familiar foods, it wasn’t about love. It was about nourishment and getting on with things. Same old, same old, really. Oh, I enjoyed my food, but it just didn't loom large in my life.  And then came the day when food was about feeling sick.  

Since being denied the predictability of familiar foods, I’ve been on a journey of sorts, discovering different, speciality foods that I can have, learning about a greater range of foods from around the world to increase my options, and learning to create healthy, satisfying, delicious meals from them. This has often been a challenge with discoveries fraught with trial, error and failure. It’s also been a labour of love, since health and nourishment are important in life and deserve our attention and effort.  And I’m worth that effort. Do you not love yourself? If you don’t, you have a problem... particularly if you’re stuffing your face with unhealthy convenience foods.

And so, as with any challenge we might face in life, there’s a certain satisfaction that comes with mastering a skill. The failures teach us to appreciate all the more the successes, the sheer joy we feel from creating a culinary delight from few and different food choices. It’s a similar delight, satisfaction and gratification that comes with mastering a piece of music ~ a concerto on the piano, or a particularly difficult riff on a guitar ~ or creating a work of art, or growing that perfect orchid. Yes, Virginia, we LOVE the results because we worked hard and overcame much to realize them. Get over it.

I really don’t understand what makes people who have narrow parameters for everything tick, like those people who think those of us on special diets are doing it just to annoy or inconvenience them, or, yeah, those who think there are limitations to love.

What I do get is that there are many different kinds of love. The love one has for success after struggle. That love for simple things, like sunshine and twittering birds. The swelling of appreciation (a form of love) for that beautiful flower in the garden, and the sound of waves on the shore. And oh... all the musical groups I’ve loved... no, not physically. ;)  It doesn’t matter if it’s food, music, art, beauty or whatever... it’s love. I also love my friends, my dog, my cats and of course, last but certainly not least, and most obviously, my family.  I have room in my heart to love all of the beauty of life.

Simply put, life is all about love. If you don’t get that, and you have to set down rules and regulations about love, maybe you need to open your mind, and your heart.

Now.... here’s a meal I really love.

Then I have to do some planting, because man... I do love my garden.  It brings the birds, butterflies and bees and gives them food and a place to work, and yes, I love them too.

Falling into the Abyss ~ Earth (or parts of it) Down the Rabbit Hole

Facebook is changing again.

To some, this is a huge chunk of the cliff face falling off into the abyss. Some of us are clinging to that piece of rock, some are up top watching with fascination, and still others are below, watching in horror. All of us, Chicken Littles or no, will be convinced to some degree that the sky is falling... a disaster of dire social networking proportions. Oh fudge.

Of course, this is the age of communication. Yeah. It’s a time when we actually try to brain storm via the electronic media and wonder why the attempt isn’t quite satisfying. I mean, the fact remains, more than half of anything anyone is trying to convey to us is in their eyes, facial expression, tone, gestures, and general body language. Typed words, no matter how eloquent, do not completely convey the moment... unless you have Skype. Even then, it’s a little herky-jerky and not as reliable as the in-person meeting of the minds.

Ah, but it is nice to be able to keep in touch with friends and meet like-minded folk on Facebook. And it is annoying when the thing we’ve just gotten used to changes, again. It’s like the grocery store ~ just when you know where the products you use are located, they move them.

The social network inspires, amuses, informs and more. It makes us laugh. It sometimes infuriates us. Sometimes it does both at the same time. Like a natural disaster, it brings out the best and worst in people ~ even if we can’t see expression, or hear tone, and we actually have to tell people in words that we’re joking ~ something that apparently even winky guys don’t convey to some people. I mean, a fat lot of good it does to craft postings with great care, when they aren’t read with even similar care. People.

Ah yes, people. Those Earthly creatures who make over their gods into their own flawed images. A particular favourite of mine is the gun-totin’, ready-for-battle, dead set against peasants Jesus of American fame. The one who sure as hell isn’t going to humbly bend to bathe a beggar’s feet. This is the Jesus of those who keep their gun handy, right on top of their Bible. Of course, this isn’t the Jesus in the Bible, but apparently these people can ignore this in the fervour of their convictions.

Of course, what most people really worship, regardless of their protests to the contrary, is money. Yes, wealth and power, that’s the thing to have, preferably on the backs of millions of working-class heros who’ve been numbed into unknowing submissiveness with the very products of their industry, from fast foods to drugs. You know, like Walmart workers, many of whom qualify for food stamps while the corporate owners have become multi-millionaires. That’s the American Way, apparently. After all, the peasants will be too busy wondering why they’re so sick to notice the special status of the wealthy. But let’s be clear that I’m not painting every nation, or even every rich person, with the same wide brush. In the recent economic downturn, Iceland, for instance, punished its crooked bankers and helped its citizens whose futures had been compromised by corporate greed. It’s in America that they did the very opposite. American bankers were not punished. In fact, they were bailed out of their troubles by the government, with no penalty, while the people who suffered from the banks’ bad business practices have been left to founder on their own. No matter their contribution to their former jobs, their communities, or even to their country, they are left to struggle along without any "bail out," many community services, including schools broke and without the wherewithall to provide the services needed. These are schools without books, or in some cases, even teachers... too many for even Ellen DeGeneres to save. In fact, those people who have dared to accept government help of any kind are soundly denigrated by other Americans, particularly the ones with the gun-belt Jesus.... and all the money.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lKwXwU5iWs Working Class Hero, John Lennon

Oh well, as difficult as it is to watch the fall of the American empire, there’s nothing most of us can do about it, even though many Americans are armed to the teeth, and Canadians have their strongly-worded letters and blog posts. Fact remains, we’re all just visiting this planet, and we can’t take wealth with us when we go. Not a problem when it’s in the hands of so few, I guess. Although, I’ll bet some of those hearses will have luggage racks. Never say die and all that.

And this brings us to time. I mean, we do all run out of that at some point. And of course, time is money. Thing is, time is also an illusion ~ a warping of sidereal space by a mass that bends it. And on that mass, aka Earth, in this ungracious age, time is apparently a more precious commodity than kindness to so many. Like that rabbit in the story of Alice in Wonderland, who runs around with his clock in his hand saying, "No time...no time... I’m late, I’m late...." That’s who many humans have become in the quest for .... um... well, whatever that is they’re hurrying for. I mean, we’re all headed for the same fate, so sometimes I wonder why we’re running. But I guess some people are hurrying in their quest for.... um... wealth? They hurry so much toward the future they want, that they never notice, much less enjoy, the present. And of course, the present is all there actually is.

And this brings us back to Facebook, where people have time to schmooze, unless they’re busy trying to figure out the inevitable changes. It’s kind of too bad we can’t actually sell our Facebook time for money. Then we’d all have a little of that much-coveted wealth, though it would cost us our present, and even our future. Moreover, I just don’t know what we’d do with that wealth while we’re clinging to that chunk of rock falling into the abyss. Earth down the rabbit hole. Look out belooooowwww.