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Erica O'Reilly's avatar

Céad míle buíochas, Marisa for sharing this with us as well. Your words echo in my heart and spirit as I experience them upon Algonquin Anishinabeg land, just north of you.

I agree. It is a tender dance of reverence, respect, and humility indeed, as those of us of the diaspora navigate our way in knowing what it means to be of two (or possibly more) places at once. What I continue to circle back to is: in order to know who I am, and where I am going, it helps to know where I come from. To me, this means tending to and knowing the bones, the stories, the songs, the matriarchal traditions of the Irish culture from which I come from. By rooting myself here, I feel I am also tending to the soul parts of my Irish ancestry that may have been lost amongst the sea.

Maybe through these questions and this work, we are gently reweaving and mending the fabric of our ancestral tapestry for those who had to leave the only home they knew many, many years ago? Maybe there is soul retrieval and ancestral work called upon us as children of diaspora?

At the same time, I feel that in knowing the culture and stories of who we are and where we come from also allows us to reverently honour and respect the people and the land of which we currently stand - for Indigenous people, their stories, their language, and their cultures have been a part of the Turtle Island since time immemorial.

Céad míle buíochas for the opportunity to sit in heartful reflection with all of this today.

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Marisa Goudy's avatar

You model this balance - this dance? this birthing process? - with such eloquence and heart, dear one.

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Erica O'Reilly's avatar

It is an honour and pleasure to walk this journey alongside you - as I continue to be ever so grateful at the meeting of our paths.

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Juliette Jarvis's avatar

I couldn't help but notice the Sun's light coming to shine over you as you spoke to this nuanced and important work as diasporic descendents on contested land. 🙏❤️✨️

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Marisa Goudy's avatar

Oh, Juliette, thank you for this invitation to pause to notice something so subtle, which really means everything, in the grand scope it all. What do we all share - doesn't it all begin with the sun and sky?

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Ali Isaac's avatar

Beautiful, Marisa! Love that you are the Anchor for Brigid on Turtle Island... I feel that is a worthy title that deserves capitalisation! 💕

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Marisa Goudy's avatar

Oh, thank you, Ali. I will not ever imagine to be "the," but I am deeply grateful to be one amongst many. 💚

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