“Where are you from?”

Such a seemingly innocuous, harmless question, that can actually be very offensive - and prompt many different answers. What may be offensive - asking where someone is from based on what they look like or what they sound like…what may not be offensive, asking someone detail to get to know them but again, a more basic way of this might be, where did you grow up?

Did you know that it took over 4,000 people over 10 generations to get you here to this exact time and place? From the very beginning of your lineage, on average, that many people are lined up before you - wild huh?

So, as we reflect this week of Samhain, the Celtic holiday in which summer comes to an end, you celebrate the harvest, and begin preparing for winter, it’s also a time to reflect on where you came from - like originally, for yourself, and also whose land you actually reside on (I live on the land of the Peoria).

Spoiler alert, it’s not likely here (U.S.) - me? I originate from Scotland, which I’ve been thoroughly enjoying learning more about and celebrating when something resonates in my bones!

So why can this question or week be difficult? Well, for one thing, if you’re part of a population of people that is judged by where they originated from, or that people just assume where you’re from, then it can be quite frustrating to navigate through. From the ancestral perspective, it also becomes uncomfortable when you realize there is something in your lineage that you’re embarrassed of or something that you would never do.

That’s what this week of Samhain is about! Realizing that 1. we all originate from somewhere 2. be mindful about how you ask a question and if there is a bias or assumption attached to it and 3. when working with your ancestors, consider that they either didn’t know any better and that’s why you’re here, but also that they didn’t only pass down the harm or trauma in the DNA but also the skills and knowledge that you feel deep in your bones.

Step outside of duality for a moment that everything is good or bad, consider that it all just is, would your perspective change? What if you could find a way to honor both/all of what they’ve experienced because like it or not, it’s in you. Many of us are here in this very time and place to be the cycle breakers, to create the new, to do better now that we know better.

How?

Patience and grace. For you, for me, for them.

How are you celebrating your origin and ancestry? Happy Samhain/Halloween/All Hallow’s Eve/All Soul’s Day!