a letter to memory keepers, storytellers and dreamers

i was introduced to the book, in love and trust, letters from a  Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, and while reading the first pages my connection to love letter writing was re-ignited. it feels like writer and reader are holding hands, holding a gaze.  

love letter writing is a way to convey, connect and express a life-moment, to remember this might be the only letter i write to this person or the last letter they might receive from me. i hope my words are met, received as a gift, with love, care, understanding.  recognizing that teachings arise from writing and reading love letters, the most meaningful are vulnerable where the giver and receiver are not two, not separate. they Interare.

i hold on to the possibility that a teacher, student, ancestor might read this letter. what do i wish to convey?  i enjoy practicing this way to remind myself: who might be present to witness these thoughts, learnings, leanings, perspective and aspiration? if this is my only message, what is the most important thing? 

please read as a kind of meditation for yourself, take breaths in-between the images and music. linger.

                                    (one breath)

A song: Little Blue by Jacob Collier. (little blue as breath)

little blue, be my shelter, be my cradle, be my womb, be my boat, be my river, be the stillness of the moon.

 you're not so far away, i hear you say, you'll never walk alone

singing, don't be afraid of the dark, in your heart, you're gonna find a way to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, 

you're gonna find a way home...

little blue how i love you, something strong, something true. in your arms so dear and gentle, there's a hope that leads me back to you. 

cuz you're not so far away, i hear you say, you'll never walk alone. 

you're gonna find a way home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQvzX0Z3HE4

(two breaths)

dear memory keepers, storytellers, poets and dreamers, 

As the state tries to scrub and erase our histories from public spaces, websites, libraries, institutions, branches of the military, universities even- we memory keepers protect our stories through art, music, language. We nourish our true inheritance- steadfast, abiding breath,  noble upright posture and steps,  courageous pulsating hearts.  Like determined warriors, we cast our jeweled net of Indra* far and wide, leaving out no one, we carry an indestructible energy and deep aspiration to cut through illusion, to see what's real and true, and act to ease suffering. 

Our bones and blood hold the cells of memory of our ancestors wildest dreams. tears, labor,  and sweat literally built the institutions now threatened. We are here in this moment, awakened from the illusion of our separateness* and determined we will not be defined or carried away by cruelty and callousness. Deep down we know our real enemies aren't people, they are fear, greed and delusion. 

We are gardeners, tending the gardens of our hearts who labored to build upon a dream, we believe in justice, freedom from oppression (liberty defined) and know there is much hard work, hardship ahead to defend our right to exist. We come from generations of gardener ancestors tending the gardens and fields of this country-many arrived from lands with a deep desire to build something better who took tremendous journeys to begin anew. 

The memory keeper inside and outside continues to encourage full heart, not shallow or petty; to see and hear clearly, not distorted or clouded by disinformation or lies, to be open to practice fearlessness in spite of sometimes being afraid. 

The storyteller in me will continue to live in and tell the truth even when it feels difficult. 

The dreamer in me will listen more closely to the dreams and visions held at arms length by my colonized mind. The dreamer in me knows that dreams are the marrow where wisdom and compassion reside. 

The poet in me is being called back to my true nature by the scent of ancestral hinoki  (cedar) forests where sky is breath, earth is body, sun is heart. 

I am a citizen of a nation in peril. 

I am a citizen of a nation experiencing a slide, collapse, contraction.

I vow to cherish the memory keeper, storyteller, poet and dreamer. May we continue to flourish. 

(three breaths and a bow)

with love and an entrusting heart, dear memory keepers, storytellers, poets and dreamers, 

🙏🏽🌕🪷

We are here to awaken from our illusion of separateness   ~Thich Nhat Hanh

* net of Indra-a Hindu and Buddhist metaphor of an infinite net with jewels at each intersection, reflecting all other jewels symbolizing interconnection and interdependence of all phenomena.