Wars, geopolitical strife, and inheritance battles have something in common: land. Your presence and life story on land, somewhere in the universe, is central to your identity, existence, and your reality, and therefore worth examining.
WHY DOES LAND IN YOUR LIFE STORY MATTER?
“Whatungarongaro te tangata, toitū te whenua,” is a saying in New Zealand which translates as: “As man passes from sight, the land remains.”
“Land sustains every aspect of our lives, providing fundamental life-support systems and the foundation of our economy and society. It is the place we stand. And also the place we act. It is where we make decisions that affect not just the land, but also water, oceans, air, and atmosphere, and the life they support.”
We attach value to the country we took our first breath in. Does the land of your forefathers feature as a theme or a presence in your life story? What is your relationship with your place of birth?
National anthems, for example, contain the seeds of passion, nation building and sacrifice, and give us a sense of people’s emotional connectedness to land:
Let’s look at the Welsh national anthem as an example: “This land of my fathers is dear to me / Land of poets and singers, and people of stature / Her brave warriors, fine patriots / Shed their blood for freedom.”
Does any of this resonate with the story you have to tell?
MIGRATION AND IDENTITY
Migration, or leaving the land you once inhabited, have become a common theme in many of our lives. International migrants constitute about 3,6% of the total global population.
“Overall, the estimated number of international migrants has increased over the past five decades. The total estimated 281 million people living in a country other than their countries of birth in 2020 was 128 million more than in 1990 and over three times the estimated number in 1970.”
What happens to your identity and sense of belonging when you migrate? Was it willingly or forced? Books capture some of the most poignant of these stories of loss, survival, and sacrifice.
Children of Sugarcane by Joanne Joseph, and The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After by Clemantine Wamariya are two recent books which give perspective. Both deal with dislocation, survival, and the power of the imagination to save us.
If your story examines identity or cultural alienation, another good example is Season of Migration to the North by Al-Tayyib Salih.
“The novel is a post-colonial exploration of the complex relationship between the East and the West. It tells the story of a young man who returns to his village in Sudan after studying in Europe, only to find that a new villager, a man who has also spent time in the West, has brought back with him a very different perspective on the relationship between the two cultures. The story unfolds as a gripping psychological drama, filled with themes of identity, alienation, and the clash of cultures.”
LAND IN YOUR LIFE STORY
If you are grappling with issues of place and existence, identity, reality, and your place on earth, as a writing coach I am here to assist you on your journey. It is worth examining land in your life story.