The Bridge #97
in which we pull back into our shell and become like turtles, ready to pop back out though if we smell chocolate (:
Hello
& Welcome ! The Bridge is a newsletter connecting the professional and the personal creatively across cultures and a diversity of topics, until we are not only full of ideas but also ready to take action. Thanks for joining in the conversation.
Something to Get Us Thinking
Watching a Kung Fu Panda TV show episode not so long ago with my older daughter (because that’s how we learn about things, sometimes) — I heard one of the characters talk about “oversharing” in a negative way. Now, this is a funny show and cannot be taken too seriously.
But then I saw The School of Life talking about the topic, and I felt it valuable to respond: If we’re lonely (for whatever the reason) and we “overshare” with strangers… it’s likely a mechanism for finding connection, when we need it most.
Not everyone we meet will connect with the things we are sharing, but it’s also the case we will likely never find the close friends we need (when navigating a moment of transition, or when recovering from a pandemic, etc) if we don’t dare be vulnerable with a stranger.
& at the same time, The School of Life has it right to remind us that if we are experiencing security in our closest connections (whether that be family, a partner, childhood friends, or whomever) — then it’s OK to be boring and talk about the weather. We never need expose others to it all. We can use discretion.
UNLESS - we’re facing a loneliness epidemic, and then maybe it’s time to take more risks. Share away! 😉 Whatever you decide, I’m cheering for you.
Something to Spark Conversation
The Lenape Nation (The Bowery Boys)
This podcast episode interviews Joe Baker, the co-founder of the Lenape Center, and Ross Perlin, a linguist and researcher who cares deeply about endangered languages around the world and particularly in NYC.
The Bowery Boys make it fun to learn the history of NYC, and this episode goes way way back from before the city was founded, before it was colonized by Europeans. The Lenape people used to live in eastern Pennsylvania, along the Delaware River, and their language is preserved in many place names, including the island of Manhattan. Though most were made to move away through negotiations, forceful removals, and unfortunate violence — their ancestors live on. It’s such a shame to think about how few are surviving, how few still knew and speak the language. Still, it can be healing to learn and remember their stories.
[sidenote: The Bowery Boys are a little bit nerdy, but I’m a little bit nerdy, so it’s OK if it’s not your cup of tea. Find your own style of learning to get to know better the Lenape and other indigenous peoples. Within their communities is a wisdom that most colonizing Europeans struggle to achieve.]
Something to Enjoy
OTYKEN is one of those bands capitalizing on the indigenous fusion music movement (a term I made up), which in turn builds upon the “world music” movement that started in the 1980s. Music can be a vehicle for building understanding, sparking curiosity and uniting people peacefully around differences.
Because if you take western pop music genres, and you mix in traditional instruments and a local language, you’ll get something that many people can enjoy. Otyken (Chulym word for ‘sacred land where warriors lay down their weapons and talk’) have millions of listeners worldwide, even if the Turkic language itself has less than 50 speakers in Siberia.
The producer (featured as a listener in the music video above) is someone who grew up running the family honey business (think: lots of beehives) next to native peoples, including the Chulym. We’re talking tiny villages.
Andrey Medonos (who’d married a native woman) decided to use profits from the beekeeping business to create the Ethnographic Museum of Honey which attracted native peoples from around the world. They started doing concerts. The honey brand got popular in Japan. OTYKEN started to take off. In 2023 they were planning to tour the US but were banned because they are “from Russia.” (Global politics are complicated!)
If you watch the music video, be sure to turn ON subtitles.
Something to Practice
Visit a native people’s village during your next vacation 😉
(Have you seen the new glass turtle-domed roof atop Tammany Hall in NYC?)
OR just be curious enough to learn some of what these people have to say. It’s often something very close to ‘common sense’ wisdom but told in a fresh way. Rather than dismiss, open your heart to the reminder:
Far away from my homeland /
Life is really tough and bad /
Come on, Come on! /
I’m playing Blues for you /
Bring your burden to the fire /
Will you cook wild deer meat for me? /
And we will dance together here
Wild deer meat 😎
Yum,
JPC
I cooked wild deer meat for you many times, many ways. I live in (historical) Lenni Lenape territory. Delaware. :)
Interesting word "overshare"... thank YOU for sharing.