Home Grown: The ROOT Cause…
Many of those who have migrated “north” to pursue educational and/or career exploits realize in those humble moments of going back home for home going services- that connection to something bigger than any material gain. There is a power that lie within laying hands on the family and laughing with the cousins that fortify the next leg of the journey.
When going home there awaits the history, land, bloodline and culture that cultivated the spirits and hearts that would be transplanted into the new found destination. The question then becomes does one alter oneself to adapt to one’s environment or does that one impart pearls and nuggets from their own rearing into the environment for which they have moved? Many often FORGET from whence they have come and wholly participate in the new environ for which they actively participate, thus creating an existence that is either authentic to self or inauthentic because of the mere fact that everything is reframed to suit their current context.
I see the songs of Negro Spiritual hymns blended with the percussions of Native American tribal chants within the eyes of my family. I always see the courage, strength and perseverance of hard working people carry themselves into that assembly with regal carriage. Everyone is neatly coifed except for the cousin who suffers from post traumatic stress syndrome from the war in which he served. There were images of days long since passed of slaves toiling in peanut and sweet potato fields as the searing heat filled the church where the funeral was being held. Everything was vividly clear.
This weekend was one of humility, calm, joy, satisfaction, sadness, peace, undisturbed connectivity and resounding resolve. It was in the course of a weekend that what was shunned was now wholly embraced for what it was authentically…HOME. Time has taught this traveler to receive, so too has love opened the once hardened heart.
Having been born in North Carolina but raised in Maryland meant that by it’s most basic definition the seeker was/is an outcast. Having over the years rushed to return to the hustle and bustle of metropolis was now in retrospect a huge disservice to the cultivation of the whole soul. Roots…ties were severed by a transient parent but the bond wasn’t broken it was there reshaping as a lifeline.
Promise Yourself – Unknown
Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet. To make all your friends feel that there is something in them. To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true. To think only of the best, to work for the best and expect only the best. To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as your about your own. To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievement that lie ahead. To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile. To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others. To be too large to worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
Eric Roberson has roots to Robersonville, NC
This transplant has roots to humble beginnings in NC as well.
