I’m continuing to explore. I came across this that I wrote in cursive in a journal in 2001:
From Oprah Magazine - Jan 2001
Article by Joyce Carol Oates.
Joyce’s immigrant mother’s mother gave her up for adoption, so Joyce’s mom was raised by her aunt (her mom’s younger sister who was unable to have children). Joyce found this out when her mother was 81 years old. Joyce thought:
“From this revelation, I came to understand that we are all – despite our ages, identities, professional achievements, and alliances – a single age. In some secret part of their souls, our parents are still children requiring the love of parents long deceased, as we in adulthood are still the children of our parents, vulnerable, and exposed to their emotions. Never again would I think of either of my parents in quite the same way. Never again would I assume that I “know”anyone fully – including myself.“
Thank you for sharing! Thoughts and words that stand out to me include: “strength & wisdom to love them more actively” and “another path has been revealed”.
“Maybe their pain was passed on to me” makes me think of Olivia Krall’s presentation 2/16/21 (I watched & listened through a link online through Goshen College) about inter generational trauma /trauma transmission. I’m sure you know a ton about that and it makes me think you might be proud of a youth you helped to form spiritually who chose to speak on the importance of these ideas. Some things I jotted down from her presentation:
-Resilience can also be passed on when we have knowledge
-We can prevent the same ills from happening in the future
- Think of a rope – each strand is an ancestor; each one doesn’t define you but it does contribute to you.
-Not paying attention to our history is ignoring a part of ourselves.
-The pathway to peace begins with reconciling the trauma of our past
I’m continuing to explore. I came across this that I wrote in cursive in a journal in 2001:
From Oprah Magazine - Jan 2001
Article by Joyce Carol Oates.
Joyce’s immigrant mother’s mother gave her up for adoption, so Joyce’s mom was raised by her aunt (her mom’s younger sister who was unable to have children). Joyce found this out when her mother was 81 years old. Joyce thought:
“From this revelation, I came to understand that we are all – despite our ages, identities, professional achievements, and alliances – a single age. In some secret part of their souls, our parents are still children requiring the love of parents long deceased, as we in adulthood are still the children of our parents, vulnerable, and exposed to their emotions. Never again would I think of either of my parents in quite the same way. Never again would I assume that I “know”anyone fully – including myself.“
Thank you for sharing! Thoughts and words that stand out to me include: “strength & wisdom to love them more actively” and “another path has been revealed”.
“Maybe their pain was passed on to me” makes me think of Olivia Krall’s presentation 2/16/21 (I watched & listened through a link online through Goshen College) about inter generational trauma /trauma transmission. I’m sure you know a ton about that and it makes me think you might be proud of a youth you helped to form spiritually who chose to speak on the importance of these ideas. Some things I jotted down from her presentation:
-Resilience can also be passed on when we have knowledge
-We can prevent the same ills from happening in the future
- Think of a rope – each strand is an ancestor; each one doesn’t define you but it does contribute to you.
-Not paying attention to our history is ignoring a part of ourselves.
-The pathway to peace begins with reconciling the trauma of our past