Ancestral trauma, current events, & doing our part

Focusing on responding from compassion instead of reacting from pain

As the genocide of Palestinians continues and the governments of the western world continue to support it, I have been exploring ways of change here, on the occupied land I live. This is an ongoing exploration, and includes connecting to the land itself, as well as its inhabitants. It invites me, over and over, to become quiet, to listen, to be curious, to admit the harm I and my ancestors have caused, and to find ways to connections that are non-hierarchal and acknowledge and nurture interdependence and autonomy. It is a constant integration of current events, the personal, generational, and ancestral traumas they stir, and feeling through different, and hopefully better, ways of being in the world.

Genocide is not something new to humanity. Most of us have ancestral trauma that involves genocide or attempted genocide. Many of us with less melanin have ancestors from multiple sides of genocides, both perpetrators and victims dna running through our own blood and bones.  

Our ancestor…