Umatilla Folklore

The Umatilla Birdman

The first man to fly over the Wallowa and Blue Mountains was E-tsa-wis-no. It was long, long ago. He had studied the swans in their flights overhead in the fall and the spring, and finally he felt sure that he could do the same thing. So he tried. Being of a persevering type, he bumped his nose and skinned his shins thousands fo times in his efforts to imitate the swans. "I can fly, if I try hard enough," was what he always said. He swung his arms and went through awkward motions for five years before he made any headway. Then he caught the knack of the thing, and finally one morning he could fly! So it came about that when the Spring migration of swans began the next year, E-tsa-wis-no went aloft to join the flight-without a word of farewell to his family! The next fall he was seen flying North. Regularly, twice annually, for three years, he seen overhead in company with the swans in their seasonal migrations, but after that he was seen no more. This is a true story. . .

THE WORD
(This bit here is/was part of an ongoing series pertaining to every-day ways we can make this world a better place. This selection would be part 4)

Okay, now, just a little disclaimer here- gonna go back, WAAAYY back (talkin' SUUUPPER old school), so just hang and don't anybody jump ship just yet. If you start to feel a litle queasy, just BREATHE.
Relax, and enjoy the ride.

"Our words are like mountains."-Umatilla tribe

We'll ease into this one with a little Taoist "text"

"In the beginning was the one,
and the one created the two,
and the two created the three,
and the THREE created all things..."
-Lao Tse (Tzu), The Tao Te Ching

Climbing up that hill...

In the Hindu tradition, (PLEASE don't make me plow through thousands of years and hundreds of thousands of pages of hindu scripture to support this one just yet, trust me a little that this is WELL founded within the Hindu tradition.), there is the pranav symbol, we in the west regard it as the "OM" synbol. Simplistically put (not gonna write another upanishsad, wouldn't be prudent at this juncture) "OM" is the divine sound of the universe, from which all things were created, and by which all things exist. The primordial sound.

Cresting...

Lemmee quote THIS dude, he seems like an educated fella, and HE starts off by quoting some cat named NOVALIS:

'All that is visible, clings to the invisible,
the audible clings to the inaudible,
the tangible to the intangible:
Perhaps the thinkable to the unthinkable.'
-NOVALIS [seems he penned a work entitled: 'Faith and Love' )

"Words are seals of the mind, results-or, more correctly, stations-of an infinite series of experiences, which reach from an unimaginably distant past into the present, and which feel their way into an equally unimaginable distant future, they are the audible which clings to the inaudible, the forms and potentialities of thought, which grow from that which is beyond thought."-LAMA Anagarika Govinda, "Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism"

My goodness, but what a lofty and wonderful veiw we have from up here! Hang on now...

"In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with GOD, and the WORD was GOD."-St. John, "The Gospel According to St. John"

Did I lose my humanists, agnostics, or atheists on that one? (shrug)

What this indicates to me, regardless of whether or not there is such a thing as a dvivine intelligence running the show, the individuals that took the time to scribe these notions and then preserve them in some cases for millenia, felt fairly strongly that sound, more specifically, articulated sound, sound with intention, is not limited to or necessarily pertains to meaning, but has POWER.

The POWER of speech.

The benefits of gardening are quite localized and apparent, if not immediate. It is a low impact activity which provides an excellent form of exercise. It gets one OUTSIDE where we can appreciate what we have left of nature (sunshine, fresh air). Gardening is a fine way to practice nurturing (it's common for individuals in rehab programs to be told that before they get into a relationship, they should take care of a plant, first. If that survives, on to a fish, then a cat...). And, of course, there is the reward of the harvest (big fat, juicy tomatoes, anyone?).The benefits of a kind word are not always so.

Even less apparent is the omission of an unkind word. Know that feeling of ebullience which comes from a compliment to your tie, shoes, haircut, etc.?
How about that feeling that results from being told that "you suck". That's kinda icky. Even in jest, I think.

"But Mikey, 'sticks and stones'...". Hey, I was the asthmatic fat kid with braces, glasses, and a bad haircut. DON"T TRY TO TELL ME WHAT AFFECT NEGATIVE SPEECH HAS ON AN INDIVIDUAL, or my brother, for that matter (yeah, a subjective and objective experience...). Negative speech can DESTROY a person, regardless of the intention (but how could the intent of negative speech be anything BUT harm?)

When I was nineteen, I was participating in activities and behaviors which led to (for me, at that time) a catastrophic downward spiral. I had read somewhere during my studies into communication, that negative "self-talk" was the largest hindrance to an enjoyable life replete with opportunities and accomplishments. I had to begin the discipline of removing "can't" from my vernacular. Not just in thought but also when speaking. Tough to do, because when we are conditioned as children, we are told quite often and in no uncertain terms, what it is we can and can't do. Since then, I've developed a response which is much more honest,"I am unable to do that at this time..."(please hold...;D )

Lately I've been taking a much deeper look into what and how it is I am communicating, and begun to adapt what it is I communicate to suit a 'reality' that I would prefer my neices children and nephew to thrive in. I've noticed some interesting effects of being truthful and kind in word, and respectful of the words I use.

My earliest attempt, and an obvious choice for an attempt at prudence, was the word "FUCK" (it would behoove one to google THEN Wikipedia this. The search results were a surprise.). The line of reasoning for the decision is fairly obvious. What isn't so obvious is the common germanic root of the word 'fuk', which means 'to strike'. 'Fuck' is an incredibly powerful word, no doubt attributable to it's designation as an 'f-BOMB'. I know of no other word which can claim connotation to a such a destructive force (vis-a-vis 'A-bomb').

Here are some simple actions we all can take in our daily lives to demonstrate the power of speech and set us on the path to a more joyful experience in this world, one word at a time.( I say 'we', because if I can do it, for Gods' sakes, anyone can. ;D )

Upon encountering another individual with whom interaction is to be had with, look for something about that person to compliment.(tip: greet with a gentle smile, but don't bare your teeth, not at this juncture.)

Compliment them.

Pay attention to yourself (this requires 'self-LOVE') in what it is you think (humans tend to think in words, most of them) and what it is you speak.

Pick just one word with negative connotations and strive to not only eliminate it from your vernacular, but replace it with a much more honest and kind word or phrase.[<-if usage of the negative terms is proprietary to the mean, the low, or the callous, then these merely lease from the true possessor of title and deed- THE LAZY]

When that effort begins to take root, pick another.

I've always wanted desperately to change the world for the better, and realized that I had to start with myself, my immediate environment, my neighborhood, etc. Remember, the goal is to get more love out there, any way we can.

This is all a start. We are pretty damn far from national justice and equality, much less global justice and equality. Not talkin' pink unicorns and quadruple rainbows here (although I've lived in a place where you could actually see them...), just a world without TERROR, with much less fear, and a lot more love.

"You should write a Blog."
Ouf. Really? Who would read it?
"You have a lot to say."
Not today, apparently.
One thing comes to mind, however- not enough time! That sentiment came to me as I was uploading a photo of Hunter, yes, HST, Hunter S. Thompson-that Hunter.
Why Hunter? Perfect case in point.
Not his dying, but the fact that the day I met him, I did not seem to have the time to converse, beyond the 5 minute exchange we had. Unfortunate, for he passed not long after.
Not enough time to adequately pad my web presence- yes, to get one over on #teamsheen ( ;D , man's gotta sleep sometime, 'cept of course, Mr. Sheen )
Something about spending years sick, disabled, in the grips of mortality, that causes one to feel as though lost time needs to be made up. And it does.
I won't say 'never enough time', it is what it is- a get what you get, pay as you go kind of world.
But damn, I want more time in the day.
I want more time in the night.
I never want to sleep again...;D

"Sleep, those little slices of death, how I loathe them."-Edgar Allen Poe