It’s July and I’m am in the woods taking part in a Women’s Full Moon Circle at the Crow Shield Lodge. The ceremony has come to a close, the sun has dipped below the horizon and the fire flies have come to entertain us with their magic. Thanks is given and we make our way home. I am so grateful for the women of the Crow Shield Lodge for sharing their teachings with us.

A question asked was how do we bring back the importance of the elders. How are the grandparents regarded again? The woman hosting the evening answers that they struggle with this as well. She adds we must continue to share, to not give up.

In a conversation with my daughter she says she wants to be more present to not keep going back into the pains of the past, to go forward.

I listen to her words and I sit with them.

I remember conversations with others, how they have heard the stories of war, struggle, brutality, abuse, hunger, addiction, mental health, so many times from their parents and grandparents that they feel it is part of their story. And when it becomes your story, it takes hold as your legacy and you hand it down to the next generation and the pain, the suffering, the victim, continues.

And yet the truth of our experiences be them dark, dangerous, bleak, they are never meant to be about what life takes from us and holds us back. They are always about what life gives us, presenting the opportunity to take us forward.

I have much to share with my grandchildren. I have decided to listen to my daughter. I shall tell them stories of  what I have learned in my life that has brought me growth, has assisted in my healing, what has reintroduced me to my truth and brought me courage to live authentically. How I have risen into my true power and learned to love and what it is to truly be a good human.

I will not hand down pain. I will not leave them to inherit strife and tears. I want them to know my smile and laughter. I am a mother and grandmother who knows how important it is to grow, to know of gratitude. The gift of a sense of humour, that true power is love and that choice and free will is one of the great Universal Laws of Life.

Perhaps our children, our grandchildren will listen closer and have regard when we have something to offer that is not about limitation and being stuck and held back by the hurts and wounds of our past.

We need to go forward. We need to hand down legacy that enriches and adds to our stories and therefore their stories. May our sharing be wise. 

I am thankful for listening to my daughter. I have much to offer that is of joy and love and laughter. I know of learning to love myself, of living true, of enjoying my own company, what it is to hear my inner voice and allow it to guide me. To stop and give thanks, because once again I have food, my health, a home and good friends and family. 

I know what it is to live awake and aware. I know of magic. I know I am a creator and regardless of what surrounds us we can still choose to create a life of happiness, health and well being. I know that living well and true, ripples out and heals our earth. I know the importance of standing back and taking in the bigger picture and I know what it is to contribute to the greater good.

I know that each and every day I can choose to open my eyes and mind and think for myself and learn, to keep learning of what will take me forward and make my life larger and richer.

I will continue. I will share with my grandchildren what life has brought me, how living has made me richer, more beautiful and more loving.

This is what I feel we have to offer as the elders. They need to know what will take them forward and that is not the stories of our pain. It is what we have learned and transformed into our joy.

The Sharing;

My grandson is visiting and we are hanging out. He’s asking to borrow my ear buds and wants me to retrieve them from the dining room table which is a mere ten feet away. 

I reply, “No, I think you can handle that.”

“But I’m comfortable and don’t want to get up.” (I know, too funny).

“I’m not your maid.”

“But you could be.” (Now he’s joking and laughing at his humour).

From there I go into a story about why I’ve never been partial to this attitude or the word ‘maid’.

My father referred to me as, ‘the maid’ when I was a girl. One example was when he purchased a motor home, I was around thirteen. He took me out to show it to me and announced that I would never ride in it, I would only ever clean it, because I was the maid.

Today, I would add to this story.

My dad’s hurtful attitude, gave me a skill and I used it to provide for my family. I went forward.

As a result, I knew how to clean and care for a home. When my children were young so I had the freedom to be there for them and have an income I started a cleaning service. Irony at its best, but it served a purpose for a time. And to say the least I was very good at it. 

From there I taught my own children the importance of how to care for a home. They knew how to tidy up, load a dishwasher and scrub a toilet, handle a broom and a vacuum cleaner.

No one was ‘the maid.’ We were all just taking our turn at taking part.

This I feel, is a forward story.

Photos; Pexels Stock Photos, Cottonbro; Gramma and girl having tea, Alex Green; Gramma with boy and girl at table, Kampus Production; Grampa and girl raking leaves.