Pathlight: Needing Each Other
Originally from the U.S., Annie earned her Canadian Citizenship in 2013. Annie & her Husband live in Pic River First Nation. She works as full-time as an Adult Mental Health and Addictions Therapist at the Marathon office of North of Superior Counseling Programs. Annie Wenger-Nabigon, MSW, RSW has been a cinical social worker since 1979 working in mental health, family therapy, and addictions services. She is a doctoral candidate at Laurentian University in Sudbury, ON. Annie also works part-time as a consultant for LYNX, owned by her husband Herb Nabigon, MSW. Herb provides traditional Anishnabek teachings and healing workshops for both Native and non-Native organizations. Together he and Annie provide training and education to professionals on a wide range of topics blending mainstream and traditional approaches in healing. They also provide cultural safety and anti-racism training. Do you have questions re: mental health, living a good life, relationships, etc. ?Annie would love to hear them and may even include your questions in a future column (published by-monthly exclusively on OntarioNewsNorth.com) Send your comments or questions to Annie via email to Pathlight@OntarioNewsNorth.com
This week, in a letter to my brother, I wrote the following words
“If prayer were all the nourishment we needed I think we’d be angels instead of people. We need something a bit more tangible, such as the sound of a bird at dusk echoing in the forest, and the playfulness of a puppy, and the warm breath of another human close to us. I’m glad we all need each other so much. It keeps me fastened to this earth while I still have breath.”
The miracle of life is something to celebrate, to cherish, to nourish, and to honor. Over the past year I’ve had opportunity to be reminded over and over of the fragility of life. Every new day presents another gift of life. Whether it is rain and cold or sun shine and warmth that greet us when we wake, it is another day where we can make some powerful choices. Sometimes life’s choices are less a smorgasbord of goodies than a bare shelf with a bag of beans. When our soul longs for the table full of goodies and all we have are beans, it takes some powerful choosing to smile instead of curse.
Author of Pathlight; Annie Wenger-Nabigon, MSW, RSW
Prayer is one of the “tools” I use to help me make those powerful choices. If it is one of those days when aching bones and muscles encourage me to stay couch-bound instead of getting up, dressing up and showing up, a prayer of thanks that I even have the choice of getting up is all I need to get moving.
Still, “If prayer were all the nourishment we needed….” it would be a lonely world to face. It would feel more like a bag of beans on an empty shelf than a smorgasbord of goodies. We need other people, and other creatures, to make each day worth the choice of getting up and smiling and greeting another day. Without those relationships in our life to nourish us, encourage us, and prod us on to do our very best, life gets dreary.
I like to think of the network of relationships, near and dear, or distant and dim, that weaves the web of my life. I’ve spent a lifetime building those relationships, and some of the threads in that weave have faded, while others are thick and strong. This is the web that keeps me fastened to the earth, and every person I come in contact with is someone I need. Every bit of life around me is some part of life’s web that my life depends upon. It is humbling to recognize how much we all need each other, how important each part of the fragile web of life is to every other part.
It’s true that no one is replaceable. In business it is sometimes said that “everyone is replaceable”, but that is not true. There is no one just like you, and while some other human being could probably fill the job you do, or step into a role that you have in your life, no one can replace you. You are irreplaceable. It is your warm breath that helps to nourish the human connections, and the earth connections that make up the web of life. We are all irreplaceably a part of all of that! It is part of the “fasteners” of life – the prayer that keeps us fastened to the earth while we still have breath.
Life is something to honor. Today, honor your life by making a powerful choice to share what you have to share while you still can. Life is really quite short, like a puff of breath on a frosty morning. It is not something to waste, or throw away, or dishonor. It is something to celebrate, even in those times of life when things feel less like a smorgasbord and more like a lonely bag of beans on a shelf. Just remember – we all need each other. That is a gift, one that feeds our soul.
Annie Wenger-Nabigon, MSW, RSW
Pathlight@OntarioNewsNorth.com
ANNIE RECOMMENDS:
- The Hollow Tree by Herb Nabigon
- EldersTeachings.blogspot.com
- Pathlight: Journey to a Good Life archives
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*Health themed columns found on OntarioNewsNorth.com provide general information about medical conditions and treatments. The information is not advice, and should not be treated as such. If you have any specific questions about any mental health or other medical matter, please consult your family physician, primary health care team or other professional healthcare provider.
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