alternative futures: ancestral memory is stored in the body

it had been way too long since my last massage. as i stood in the quiet room and noticed the incense (nag champa) i felt my body slow down. i slowly took off my clothes and laid down on the massage table on my stomach. i wondered what memories would come up this time.

i must’ve fallen asleep because i didn’t remember the bodyworker coming in, but i definitely remember processing the first memory.

they had started at my feet and the soles released a really powerful one.

i (who?) was walking on a dusty dirt path to the store. i must have been six or seven years old. i had pigtails, glasses with huge lenses, and a little skirt on. the air was hot and humid. florida. jackie. i was my mother as a little girl.

i had a few coins in my hand and didn’t know where i was going. that was pretty standard when reliving a memory, though. i had learned to love the familiar feeling of following the already determined path of the past and re-membering via visceral experience. i wasn’t in control of my mom’s body; i was reliving a day in her past.

but, as we walked, i wondered why this memory was stored in the soles of our feet.

as soon as i had that thought, we heard a chain rattle and a terrifying bark. the neighbor’s rottweiler was bounding towards us. my mom jammed the coins down in her pocket and started running.

on that first step, i felt us began to tumble over. what happened? as we skid to a halt in the dust, we looked over her shoulder and saw a giant shard of glass sticking out of the ground. i noticed the wet sting of blood escaping the bottom of our feet.

that explained it.

i woke up as the bodyworker asked, “are you ready to move to the next one?”


this is post #2 of the evolutionary leadership 250 words a day challenge.

inspiration:

words: 322