Our Foot and the Foot of Our Ancestors

When I read “A Hundred Small Rebellions” by Eishar Kaur, I couldn’t get it out of my head. She shares what her mother told her about her grandmother’s words.

Her mother relays how her mother explained:

“It’s the evolution, isn’t it, of having those roots. So for your grandparents’ generation, having those roots meant being a certain way. For me and your dad, having those roots means having a foot in your grandparents’ camp, and being our own selves, and having a foot in your camp. For you, you have a foot in our camp, and in your own, and then you’ll have a foot in your next generation’s camp. With each iteration, you get a bit further away from the thing that anchored it in the first place. We’re already a step removed from how your grandparents view the world; you’re a step removed from how we view the world.”

This was visual…I can hold it in my hands and really see it by slowly turning it around like an incredible piece of pottery.

It’s impossible to yank out our foot, shake it off and remove it entirely from our family’s past.

It helps me think how less likely it is to understand one generation of humans unless the whole picture (past-present-future) is taken into consideration. Transitions from one generation to the next isn’t a simple “Drop em’ off” tactic.

We have our own stories in addition to being taught through community, race, religion and culture “The Complex and Not Yet Complete Story of You”, by You.

I agree with the grandmother. Our lineage is powerful in ways we can’t begin to untangle. 

Maybe we sift through them like we use to do with flour to get it clean to use for cooking. I see that as the foot in the next generation’s camp.

We can sever ties with family traditions, beliefs and values but we can’t unravel the complexity and influence of our family upbringing. (Whether it’s religion, politics, moral values, etc.) 

I want to specifically mention Native Americans because today is Indigenous Peoples’ Day. They have had ties to their ancestors severed by people in power. They continually dig for roots to find their ancestors to get a foothold in the present and have a foothold in the past. The desire and hope for a future for their own people inspires me.

Unfortunately it’s possible to put both feet in the past, idealize and romanticize it. Stay stuck. Decades go by with so few of us testing ourselves to change. We can’t change the past. 

Opening ourselves up for ridicule and dismissal by groups of people we care about and want to be a part of is scary as hell. It’s a powerful fear. Fear can be so persuasive it suspends us in time. Like an insect preserved in amber.

If we do stay stuck, the generation (our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren) who have a foot in the future are on their own to move toward the future. They’ll need imagination, education and insight to plant their foot forward. They’ll need each other. 

To be loved and cherished by our ancestors is strength. Life undermines our courage but nothing can beat the power in feeling loved and being seen.

I found Eishar Kaur's writing "A Hundred Small Rebellions" in the book by  

                                            June Eric-Udorie.

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