Who Is Your Kin?

Photo by Annie Spratt, Unsplash

I watched 'It's a Wonderful Life' yesterday (again). If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. Starring James Stewart and made in 1946 the message of the film is that each person's life touches so many others and if we didn't exist then we would leave an awful hole. It speaks to me of the importance of kindness, that each of us has value and that we are all connected somehow.

The origin of the word kindness comes from the word kin, which means family. To be kind is an act of kinship; to treat someone as your kin. Kindness shows our capacity to relate. But who is our kin and how far does it extend beyond our family and friends? When does someone stop being our kin or our kind? Where and why do we draw a line between who we can or cannot be kind to?

When I think of the moments I have been unkind in recent times, it has come from an underlying belief that the less I give to you, the more I have or the more I am. It has come from a place of fear rather than trust, scarcity rather than abundance, separation rather than connection.

With all the fear and scarcity being pumped into the system by the media every day and by leaders who would seek to divide us, it's hardly surprising we find it difficult to challenge the pervading story of separation.

We are all indigenous to this Earth and so we are all related. Spiritual leaders and sages throughout the ages have banged this particular drum to limited effect, it seems. However, the challenges we are facing today, particularly with climate change and Covid, give me hope. If our relatedness is not so obvious to see, surely it is our interdependence? These challenges show us we are all bound in a shared fate and a shared purpose.

The author Richard Powers says, 'Kinship is the discovery that the more I give to you, the more I have. It knows how everything that gives deepest purpose and meaning to any life is being made and nurtured by other creatures.'

When we go back to nature and slow down we experience what we know in our hearts is the true extent of our kinship and the extraordinary gift that is our life.

Natasha Lythgoe and I are running a retreat in May of next year (2022), at a stunning and wild location on the edge of Dartmoor. We will guide eight people on a restorative adventure to connect with a deeper sense of belonging and community away from the demands of every day life.

Please see here for more details on Coming Home to Your Wild Self.