//14: Celebrating from whence we came

Photo +++Gratitude and remembering that life is a gift+++ Moving towards the end of a year of different workshops, the last activity was a symbolical one: Appreciating where we came from, acknowledging the ancestors that came before us to make a path which we may now walk upon, being aware of the many stories they lived through, and seeing how they all culminate in this present moment in which we are here now and look back at all that was before.

We celebrated and shared gratitude with an altar of harvested goods from around our farm, but also with stories from the past, and being grateful for all that was. In going forward, may we never forget where we came from.

+++ Assignment 14 +++ Honoring our ancestors

Start a booklet collecting stories about those who came before you. For example, you can interview all living members of your family to gather anecdotes, life events, and other miscellaneous tidbits about the members of your family. If you are feeling inspired, you can even visit municipal archives and research the family tree further upwards, making your way through birth and marriage certificates and reconstructing the life paths in different ways. See how understanding your past can help form your future, and appreciate how all that came before you now enables this path forward to exist in the first place.