If you don’t speak Cherokee, the language at the top of this sign is probably baffling, maybe even not recognizable as language at all. It’s all too easy, when we don’t understand, to assume that the other person isn’t making sense. But when someone else’s words confuse us, it might be time to pay closer attention, to glean what sense we can rather than simply stepping away.
Who do you take the time to stay in conversation with, even when it is difficult or confusing?
Sometimes moving forward means a hard climb toward a destination that we can barely make out, knowing that destination is only the place where we catch the train towards the next stop on our journey.
When the journey feels long and confusing, what helps you to get up and onto that first step?
The Mexican holiday of El día de los muertos honors the connection between the dead and the living, and the ways in which those who have gone continue to walk with us.
What do you do to celebrate those who have gone before?
Halloween offers us the opportunity to put on masks and costumes, to present ourselves in any way that suits us. Dressed in our disguises, we are free to waltz up to the houses of our neighbors, demanding treats.
What mask do you put on to help yourself feel less vulnerable?
It’s hard to imagine that a few green fronds on top of a spindly palm tree would be enough to sustain the tree’s growth, but a few fronds on top was all it ever needed.
What small thing sustains you?
