A World of Otis: imagining the future, in the past

"If you go to the past in the future, your future lies in the past...That is a picture of you in the future, in the past." - Kate and Leopold

The Robins were the first awake their songs sweeter than chocolate chip cookies. I followed the wake-up call. Still mid-dream I thought Yesterday was one of those times that left me with dejavu. You know, that feeling? That feeling of having been there before. Before, and,in an amazing way before.

Yesterday's post was my 'mark,' maybe just one of many but it may be one of those moments that define the future. 'Locked down' and slowed way, way down we've come to know this tiny home of ours in expansive ways. In the silence and the limitation of the space we do our personal explorations ... inside ourselves. The fact we have fewer ingredients to cook meals with? That makes it a challenge to put rice, mushrooms and a sprinkle of garlic powder together and still get a "Wow!" outta Pete. It makes may day, everyday to hear. The man loves to eat my cookin' and he never gains an ounce. "Metabolism," he says. I DON'T GET IT.

Our friend, Donnette, said she really liked yesterday's post and loves that I'm calling our wagon "Otis." I said there'd be more about "Otis" and here it is. The quote that starts today's post comes from one of our old favorite movies, Kate and Leopold. For a gaggle of reasons we have watched the 2001 film tagged 'romantic comedy.' It's that to us too, but even more than that, we love movies about time travel and going back and forth in time.

Kate and Leopold is set in Brooklyn, New York. The character Leopold is literally launched into the twentieth century New York from a New York much earlier. The screenplay takes us, the audience, on a ride or walks across the Brooklyn Bridge. You know I love metaphors. And this film stretches metaphor and fairy tales to include a prince (well precisely a duke), who was also an engineering dabbler imagining a moveable cage to take people to heights they could not reach on their own. The duke was imagining an elevator. The duke had a butler, the butler's name was 'Otis.' It's the butler who has inspired me to call our wagon "Otis."

 At one very romantic moment, Kate asks Leopold when he is tucking her snug into bed, "Are you my Otis?" Ahhhh ... he was, and we got it.

One night during this long and unusual week in the wagon Pete was saying good night, and we were appreciating how much we love the comfort of our small and precious home. He said looking up at the curved ceiling, "(the vardo) is tucking us safely into bed." Like Otis.

The Curve of 'Otis' & The Builder

Art, like films, and books, music and a life lived as if orchestrated with all the meanings of a future we'd love to rewatch over and over again starts with some kind of mark. There was this and then something happened, a dream sucked you out of a nightmare into a photograph. A bite of pancake seduces a girl into a life of unexpected consequence. "A virus can't be seen, is not alive, but it can steal and can be disrupted."

Pete and I listened to a teleseminar earlier this week. Without seeing who was speaking, we listened to Susun Weed (our long-time mentor/teacher/Wise Woman Tradition's ancestor) and her guest Paul Bergner. With so much information coming at us about The Virus, Susun Weed's email and invitation to learn from "Lessons from the 1918 Flu Pandemic" fit my need. It wasn't free, but it was affordable ($10 US).

For ninety-minutes we sat and listened, learned new information, and calmed the fear growing out of worry and 'misinformation.' I took notes as these two elders (both herbalists are in their 70's) created a picture of virus that marked us.  From the past (the 1918 Flu Pandemic) Paul Bergner described the human milieu, the human social environment, during the time of the 1918 flu pandemic. He explained it was important to get a picture, a framework of what was happening in America at the time. He promised it would make sense as he continued, and would give us a way to see how the past (looked at in the present, as insight into our futures?) would be helpful.

This post is not a place to summarize the teleseminar, but, the teleseminar is important enough to insert into "Otis." It could be the comfort and the whole-ing process to make 2020 an 'Otis Moment' for many more of us...if only that teleseminar went viral! (Pun intended)

I wrote a few notes while listening-- in big widely-spaced letters -- using my black BIC pen, into my everyday journal. Among those notes were these things:

"A virus can't be seen (by the naked eye, I presumed)
A virus is not alive,
But, it can steal
A virus can be disrupted." - Paul Bergner

We owe it to ourselves to love life, and the opportunity we have every minute of our artful life to be informed and empowered to act with informed care. In the practice of my ancestors, an elder or kahuna in training would apply all nine o'o (digging tools) to plant or move heavy rocks out of the way.  An elder or kahuna in training would open their minds to imagining a future held gently, yet powerfully to the past.

Again ... "If you go to the past in the future, your future lies in the past...That is a picture of you in the future, in the past."

All around me, in our community, in communication with old friends, family, and friends yet to be known loving connections are being made. by sharing safety pins -- common, moveable, simple, sustainable, gentle holds. The potential for becoming a world of Otis has a very, very sweet ring to it, and the vibe crosses time.


If that teleseminar rings something with you, do click here.


Ola Kakou! Ola Otis:)




What safety pins have you fastened, or had fastened to you? 

 

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Julie Charette Nunn "The Old Way is the New Way" 
LEI ANUENUE Webinar EPISODE 3: "Kilo Makani (pay attention to the winds) Kalei Nu'uhiwa"