The global village tends no fire around which the children can gather. Its sophisticated arrogance is politely to sneer at domesticity as a lovely ideal, but ultimately a naive and inevitably temporary undertaking. It announces to anyone seeking to grow roots, that home is to be found everywhere, making sure that it is nowhere to […]
indigenous
Place is your child’s close relative
A friend of mine grew up in the inner city, a world of asphalt, concrete, steel and the growl of combustion engines. Outside his apartment a solitary lime tree sprung from the pavement. Every day he’d climb that tree. He says he perched there for what seemed like most of his childhood, watching the world […]
Making humans who serve life
There was a time in your ancestry, either within living memory or well beyond depending on your particular lineage, when a child was raised not to be all that she could be, but to serve life. Raising a child like that takes a lot of cultural savvy. The songs, the stories, the games, the rituals, […]
Your child’s gift holds the family together
What sets every family member apart is what holds the family together. This is an old ancestral understanding. The strength of our relationships grows from our willingness to honor, celebrate and cultivate our differences. Every child has a unique gift, talent, passion that complements the gifts of others. These are the variegated threads of a […]
Turn your family into a rebellious island of sanity
Start the revolution by making your family home a rebellious island of sanity and insane possibility. Create a home that’s your getaway, a place so good, so relaxing, so full of life that you have no desire to fly off to another distant promised land on a holy-day at an all-inclusive coddling factory. Tend the […]
We can’t fix childhood
There’s no solution to childhood. Though you’d think there would be, as so much of childhood is seen as a problem to be fixed. My kid is too angry, doesn’t sleep, can’t sit still, doesn’t talk, talks too much, says the wrong thing, is shy, is too loud, never listens, doesn’t play, plays all the […]
Inherited wisdom
Trauma is passed through our genes from one generation to the next. And so too is our wisdom. I first heard that from Kazu Haga of the East Point Peace Academy. Haga also says, “By maintaining a relationship with our ancestral wisdom, we can build a truly peaceful world for future generations.” What inherited wisdom […]
Apologize before putting your child to bed
When the day comes to an end, you may have things that are left unsaid. You may have raised your voice and sent a slight judder through your child’s body, a tremble of fear. You may have been impatient and interrupted your child when she was immersed in play. You may have been too busy […]
Every child was born two times
There’s an old wisdom that says when a child is born, he arrives from the spirit-world knowing everything. But he soon forgets. The parents’ role was to help the child remember these original teachings. Every child needed to know these codes to lead a good life, respecting all his relatives and being of service to […]
Autumn and every family in transition
The equinox just past, and every family is in transition, whether in cities or countryside, apartments or houses. It’s on the winds, in the rains, under our feet and in the canopies. And it’s in our children too. They’re called indoors, to fires and candles and stories and games and comforting blankets. Like seeds, they’re […]