Grow Beyond Your Circumstances

I grew up on the Hopi Reservation...

On the rural high mesas in Northern Arizona is a place where most would consider unwanted desert lands. However, this is where my people have called home for centuries. A culture deep in religion and practices as old as time that reinforce living with the land and maintaining our place as earth's stewards. The Hopi/Tewa history is full of challenges and change that is often unspoken, however something that is still felt today.

Growing up with my mom, my brother and sister in our single wide mobile home is what formed the beginnings of a minimal humble life. I remember the sponge baths we would take in a small galvanized pan and the boiling water to make the bath tub warm. 

Every day we had the chore of chopping wood and building our fires to warm up our house. I remember those cold winter days where I could see my breath in the morning inside my room. Our house didn't have the best insulation, but still felt warm.

Whatever we did have growing up, we had our loving mother who showed us to be happy with our humble beginnings as she raised us, on a self-employed artist salary. I learned very early that any money she tried to give me, she could use it somewhere else. "It's okay mom. I'm fine." Is what i'd say. 

Poverty, alcoholism, abuse, family conflict were my circumstances. I wanted to grow beyond it. I saw many tears from the struggle and I began to wonder what life would look like if I could change that.