Artifacts to Treasure

One of our favourite expeditions is to our nearest big city, Vancouver.  We have some favourite traditions.  One is to have a meal at our favourite Chinese restaurant, Won More, by the beach near Stanley Park.  We watch the dinner cooked before our eyes by the friendly cook who has served us for over fifteen years there, and then afterwards we migrate downstairs to a great ice cream shop where we mix gummy bears and the like with our favourite ice-creams.  The adults among us get a coffee at the nearby Starbucks before we wander down to the sand to watch the sunset and a lovely walk along the seawall.

Last weekend we visited the UBC Anthropology museum before our feast.  I had not been there for years and our younger crew had never been experienced the great treasures there.  One of my daughters is of First Nations Heritage and has many relatives who are artists from Alert Bay.  We have all been to Alert Bay and so it was especially interesting for us to learn more about the great works of art from both Haida Gwaii and Alert Bay.  There are many interesting similarities and differences that we discovered for the first time.

I particularly respect and am inspired by the totem poles.  They stand tall and straight, giving signs and stories to inspire and treasure.  Today I thought afresh that there are ways that we are all like those totem poles.  We are an intertwining of different influences and stories and images that sometimes take a lifetime to fully recognize and uncover.  As I saw the beaver in relationship with the orca who was in turn held by the bear and topped by the raven, I thought of all these characters represented in my own life.

Like those poles may we too stand tall, expressing the unique intertwinings of all of who we are and helping those around us to similarly grow in their own special expression of life in all the parts of their being.  The carving style for each of us has special characteristics.  Some of the cuts in our souls are deep and definite.  Others are more superficial but still give impact of important sensations to our feel.  We are drawn to different characters and have been impacted by many experiences, both welcomed and endured that intertwine to create the special treasures of ourselves.