Since the Howatt family tree had already been charted, I had decided to explore my mother's side of the family (MacDonald) first. It amazed me how quickly I was led to my maternal grandparent's information and to my mother's name simply by adding the area where my mother had been born.
However, I discovered her name had been abbreviated to "Marg" and my
immediate excitement shifted to annoyance. My mother called us by our
full names, so it was important to me that her full name, Marguerite
Alexandra, should be reclaimed.
New to the site I looked for ways to edit information, to restore the fullness of my mothers name, but being new to the site I couldn't find an edit option, so I made a conscious decision to put in my own information and come back to it the following day. So I entered my name and current address, and then clicked back to review the page containing my maternal grandparents, and my mother's and her siblings information before closing.
AND
I was surprised to see my mother's name was no longer Marg, but now was listed as Marguerite.
I don't know how the site's technology allows for such shifts of subtle
(not so subtle to my heart) changes and I don't need to know. My focus
is on another shift that started unfolding in that moment...a deeper
awareness of our potency and how our actions, even small ones, can
affect another.
As I unfolded my story, so to was my mother's story affected. Marguerite's Story.
The Mi'kmaq believe that as we heal our lives, we heal the lives of our ancestors seven generations back and we also help heal future generations to come.
And that belief now envelops me with a more personal and deeper meaning.
As porous creatures, each of us an assemblage of over one hundred trillion cells, it is our nature to be affected, to affect and to respond. And although not all of life's situations and occurrences are of our choosing, we do get to choose how we respond: if we are reactionary, or if we move prayerfully and thoughtfully...aware of ourselves, aware of others, and alive to the fullness our choices.
New to the site I looked for ways to edit information, to restore the fullness of my mothers name, but being new to the site I couldn't find an edit option, so I made a conscious decision to put in my own information and come back to it the following day. So I entered my name and current address, and then clicked back to review the page containing my maternal grandparents, and my mother's and her siblings information before closing.
AND
I was surprised to see my mother's name was no longer Marg, but now was listed as Marguerite.
As I unfolded my story, so to was my mother's story affected. Marguerite's Story.
The Mi'kmaq believe that as we heal our lives, we heal the lives of our ancestors seven generations back and we also help heal future generations to come.
And that belief now envelops me with a more personal and deeper meaning.
As porous creatures, each of us an assemblage of over one hundred trillion cells, it is our nature to be affected, to affect and to respond. And although not all of life's situations and occurrences are of our choosing, we do get to choose how we respond: if we are reactionary, or if we move prayerfully and thoughtfully...aware of ourselves, aware of others, and alive to the fullness our choices.
