The Way of the Dreamer

Thank to you to everyone who’s been encouraging me to write; who’s been giving feedback as well as suggesting topics whenever I go blank. RW was the initiator to my blog. She asked me two years ago if I would be willing to commit to regular entries because she got a lot of guidance and teachings just by listening to the stories that I shared. I was moved by her comment because that’s the way our First Nation Ancestors humbly lived their lives not that long ago. Before there were computers and academic institutions there were parents, grand-parents and communities members who devoted their personal story to the upbringing (so to speak) of seven generations.

For those who follow the Path of the Dreamer – we know how a story can actually breath and live for a very long time. Where men and women live on the average 70 years – their story can out live them for generations. EC my friend, Passamaquody elder and teacher once told me that “the best gift you could ever give your children, grand-children and community members is the testimony of your life with you as the humble hero.” It may sound easy but in truth, it’s the most testing challenge of our existence. On a daily basis I meet people who regret or feel ashamed of some of the choices they made, or of some events in their lives. It seems that even after taking responsibility for their mistakes many individuals still stay haunted by these memories and can’t grow out of them. The journey towards self-forgiveness, self-love, and self-confidence can be long; but like any other process it demands perseverance and courage. It also expects from us that we adopt the perspective that whatever we experience in life is for a higher purpose and in the end, it helps to shape us into a very particular type of hero.

More and more these days I use the words Sacred Circle Tradition rather than the Medicine Wheel because the actual word Medicine Wheel originates from anthropological observations (1880) kept by a Jesuite Priest who was studying the Lakota People. In my early studies of the Wheel I remember asking EC how the Wabanaki people called the Medicine Wheel: What was the name they used? She replied: “Why would we call it anything since it is the-word-beyond-words to describes what can not be described by any language?” I had goose pumps with that response for weeks and understood in that moment why elders or Holy People who share medicine stories and dreams always take the time to build a Sacred Circle first. Today (20 years later) when I teach and share stories I always build a Medicine Wheel in reverence to the cosmos for the mystery it delivers through every breath I take . There are no coincidences, no mistakes and no unconsciousness when it comes to LIFE. Finding our place in the scheme of things might be tricky but it should be our path and purpose. We should all seek to be heroes to one another and to be inter-connected.

I was born a Dreamer and I didn’t realize what this meant until I had two children of my own who were also Dreamers. I wanted to give to them what was not given to me but in order to accomplish this feat I had to find a way to “give it to myself or to receive these gifts from the Dream Time.” When I came to that realization my whole life changed and the first thing that I discovered was that since birth there were ancestors, guides, teachers in the waking and the dreaming waiting for me. The experience of “awakening” is not strictly limited to the journey that lies in your future but to the conscious glance you give to your whole personal story.

Definitely, I plan to continue to share my story with all of you for as long as it provides a service – thus is the life of a Dreamer.

Wolikon – Tahau!