Follow up to this:
Well, my quest for a month's worth of good days has come to sort of an official end. I do not know what the future holds for me good or bad later on, but the fact that I was able to achieve so much within the span of a month, I have never been happier.
To close things out, on what is officially now known as yesterday, I ended up getting a great honor. A friend of mine who visits my building gave me this:
This is a bear claw stone pendant. A charm well known in both Celtic and Native culture. To which I am both. In terms of nationality I am Scottish, Irish, English, Scandanavian and Ojibwa. Also known as Ojibwe and Chippewa. This friend is also native so when a native gives a gift to another native regardless of the nationality gap, it is considered a highest honor. I admit, I'm still learning about this side of my culture, so I don't know a lot about this. But from what I've heard, if a Native woman, especially one old enough to be your mother or grandmother, gives a native youth a gift, it is considered a very high honor. In Native Culture, the Stone Bear Paw pendant is a symbol of Strength and Healing. In Ojibwa, it symbolizes protecting a warrior and offering them strength. So in the eyes of the natives in my town, I am one of their warriors now. That said I have no idea what the hell I did to earn that. Still it closes out a months worth of good days. That being said there's another reason I'm posting this article.
Today is Truth and Reconcilation Day. For those that don't know, it is the day that a scandal involving residential schools was exposed. Opening a dark chapter in Canadian History. While I don't know the exact details, I know enough that it involved cultural genocide and that they're still finding bodies. It was the first time in my life I felt ashamed to be a Canadian. That said, it allowed me to realize who I am in life. And what matters in life. Now I will fight tooth and nail to have good days. Not just for myself, but for everyone I care about and every innocent soul struggling for their place in the world.
While I never had a chance until now to wear the orange shirt for that day, I have tried to contribute to it in other ways:
I painted that two weeks ago. Scanned it so I could save it and show everyone on this day. My building has what is known as Art Therapy and it is exactly what it sounds like. The residents go down to the recreation room and they draw, paint, write, sculpt, diamond paint. Whatever they consider therapeutic. I was recommended, by someone who was also dealing with anger issues in combination with bad luck. Those two weeks ago I made that, asked them to at least put it up a few days before the day and they put it on display outside the room. Added two paper orange hearts under it too.
My heart goes out to all those that suffered losses, because of these genocidal madmen and madwomen. I really hope that you all have better days ahead of you. And I hope the people responsible are currently burning in Hell.
One of the difficulties of being a mixed race is that you carry all the baggage of each race. For example while I am Native, my predominance is white. You'd have to look at my hair and eyes to see if I had some Native in me. That being said, save for my Scandinavian heritage, which traces all the way up to the famous Viking, Eric The Red, I have not had any ancestors, that I know of to pull that crap. My native side is on my mother's side and hers before her and all that. That said, like many people I have had some family members, whom shall remain nameless because I hate them. Whom have had at least one -ism and -phobe. I made peace with that a long time ago and moved on away from their radar. Helps that some are dying off. Anywho, it doesn't compare to others, whom have been through worse. Some Native friends and family of mine had many difficulties. One of them was in one of those schools and taken away from her parents. She was one of the lucky ones that lived. I can't imagine how much another friend of mine knows, but I haven't seen him in years. That guy was cool, he built a shelter in our backyard and he currently lives in a park. If I ever saw him again and asked about that, it would probably break his heart.
That said, we shouldn't just use this day as a day of mourning. But also a celebration of life. A way of saying we are still here and we are still alive. Not just for Natives but for everyone, because as the slogan goes:
Every Child Matters.
Stay tuned for more and have wonderful days ahead of you.