Can peace be made with one's ancestors, even after they are dead?
Once upon a time my mother's fondest desire was to have a book published. Not just any book, mind you, but a beautiful volume full of wonder and sparkling imagery glittering forth with a message of hope for the world.
We had similar goals, my mother and I, but came from very different generations and quite different personal experiences ... what with her being a pale, blonde immigrant of European descent, and I: a brown-skinned, native-born, POC American.
We actually did not have much in common in how we chose to live out our lives, after I too became an independent adult.
Nor did we necessarily agree on what should be perceived as 'inspirationally hopeful' regarding humanity's plight!
Over time, this led to escalating strife.
Yet here we are in 2023, with something we were able to collaborate on together - a project entitled Skating Across Thin Ice: Surviving The Times With Relationships Intact that my mother began quite awhile ago, and I recently completed - even though one of us is alive, while the other has long since passed on to greener pastures.
How surprising this might seem, in an era where globally so many contemporary families and friends have become estranged from one another...
But oh what an interesting weaving of ideas and personal-ancestral-Universal healing can be brought about by just such a melding of past and present minds, regarding The Future.