purging fears

i am happy I got to share a great cleansing ritual today with a group of people i consider my folk, my peeps, my ohana, my clan, my kin, my cousins... i think i scared myself though when i sang a song that i've never had any inclination to sing outside of blood and outside myself! ha ha ha! as a person raised in a church ( against my own will, of course ) i've always had a love/hate relationship with the church construct.  (pictured, purging our fears in the backyard)
i come from folks (american blacks,caribbean blacks & mvskoke creek) who have : gone to "church" in the woods and/or given their lives up to the idea of jesus as the great white hope and the ideals of a judeo-christian ideal and/or gone to ritual on saturday & church on sunday. it's not that i don't like church, per se, i love old-time, backwoods church i do. i especially love the singing. it takes me to a most safe and serene place. that's where the comfort is.

when you sing, they all come. they are your folks. your ancestors. the ones who make you who you are. some are long gone from this world and some are right with you. every step of the way. that's why i sang the song i did.

i hope that my kin here, in this present, find that comfort,joy,solace,happiness,gratitude,understanding & patiencePLACE. together we can. i know we can. coming home from this circle i felt a little bit of peace. i hope that my kin take care of themselves and their loved ones approaching the holiday season and remember that better environment makes better people. 
ashe' & a'ho