Love is Human: New Beginnings

As I write, I contemplate the standards that define how we must act, or we must be in this world. The continuing design being that we hold ourselves accountable to the light and further our position to the darkness within us all. However, without darkness there can be no light and without light there can be no darkness. My question at this point is, why is this method of elimination the only answer? Is it a test to see our devotion to a malevolent being as some institutions believe? Or is it because there is a greater truth that has yet to be seen?

Growing up, I was raised around the powwows in Santa Ynez (‘Alaxulapu) and told the stories of my people, the Samala Chumash. A tribe native to the lands of what is now known as California that has been stripped of almost all culture, language, and people that we had once held so dear. If it wasn’t for the actions of my ancestor and a man known as John P. Harrington, our culture, our beliefs, our practices, and our language would’ve been extinguished as fire extinguishs life from what is already dead. Now, we find ourselves in a position to rebuild the land that was repurposed to assimilate and deny our culture out of fear of the stories and wisdom we have to tell. For the stories that we’ve always known speak against this belief of elimination in order to reach salvation.

Salvation to many means' entry to the gates of heaven, but what if I told you that heaven is closer than you think. The ancestors believed that salvation lies within the discovery of balance within ourselves before reaching the gates of Shimilaqsha which is our version of the land of the dead. We focus on preparing our spirits to take heart as we journey through life by purifying its essence and keeping true to our nature. In doing so, we cultivate our atiswin (spirit power) to make us strong and humble in the face of adversity. Thus, keeping our minds eye open to the ever-flowing embrace of love for the root word of atiswin is atis which means love.

Love within itself is essentially pure energy. Untainted by the squabbles of man. It is infinite within itself and has the potential to be fervently abundant within this world, but only if we can acknowledge the pain, the hate, and the suffering we have put upon its people, for the Gods we all worship are one and the same. We must reflect on our history and rid ourselves of a division that we blindly cling to out of devotion. The greatest offenders being the institutions that preach salvation if you are to conform to their ideals and punish those who do not. Resulting in even the gentlest of souls finding themselves being demonized as a result of our efforts to continuously erase the beliefs that are not our own out of zealous and ignorant devotion. This is where I denounce these institutions and the standard of elimination for salvation, and where I accept their company as friends versus enemies. Only together can we heal the wounds of our ancestors to keep true to our nature, and openly welcome the people of our communities and raise them up in love. Let the people not only remove themselves from this standard of elimination, but fervently deny its pleasure to breed hatred among us for a divided people is one to be dominated and conquered by those who only seek power from the ruins of our society.

With that said, let us share our differences with one another and respect each other as the beings of love that we’ve always been. Let us build each other up in times of great sorrow and be joyous while journeying through life together hand in hand. I open this platform to all that wish to speak freely whether it be about culture, history, media, science, or any other discussion that weighs on your mind. All I ask is that we manifest a space of respect and comfort that will breed nothing but love in time.