Ancestral Tribute

We have largely forgotten in Western culture to acknowledge our roots and those people whose shoulders we stand on, our ancestors. In doing so we forego the opportunity to anchor ourselves in both our paternal and maternal lineages and the gifts these have bestowed on us. We also forego the opportunity to express our gratitude for what we have received and inadvertently neglect to consider the generations to come and to acknowledge ourselves as links in that chain.

I would like to begin with honouring my mother, Gloria Holden, who was foremost a teacher but who as such was good at encouraging inquiry, often referring me to a few books on her shelf, or to the encyclopedias that we had as a solid starting point. She would suggest touching things, bringing your awareness into your fingertips and really feeling, or she would say ‘close your eyes and ask for the answer, it will always come’. I have an enduring memory of her in her pottery studio, smelling of earthy clay, with a quote on her blackboard that read: “argue your limitations and they’re yours” from the book Jonathon Livingstone Seagull.

My father, Timothy Holden, was also creative and we had several oils on our home walls that he had painted, landscapes we had passed through en route to family holidays, like the Drakensberg Mountains, and places that he had visited in his youth, like coastal villages in the South of Spain. My dad loved exploring, and it was from him that I inherited my desire to see the world.

As little children we would spend time in nature, go on family walks through the woods (looking for Tigger) or be down by the river, wandering through the bullrushes on windy, winter days. We were always encouraged to spend time outdoors and my favourite resting place was in a branch high up in the huge Chestnut tree that grew in our garden. In those days the neighbourhood kids could roam free on the open lands behind the houses, coming back as the sun set, and I feel very blessed for having grown up in those times.

There were of course many who went before my mother and father, musicians, dog breeders, pigeon racers, fishermen, lace-makers and if we go a really long way back, Celts and Vikings. But most importantly free-spirited people, and I acknowledge and thank them too.