Legacy burdens and legacy gifts
3.5 x 4 inches each (a set of two), Mokuhanga woodblock prints, 2023
This month’s Mokuhanga images are about what my ancestors passed down to me and my daughter. A psychological approach called “Internal Family Systems” conceptualizes that our ancestors often unknowingly pass down to us their experiences of trauma and attachment injuries as extreme beliefs, emotions, and energies. Our ancestors’ ways of coping with difficult situations may not be so helpful to us and become burdensome. Epigenetic studies also describe how our ancestors’ stress responses imprint chemical marks in our genes, influencing our own responses to certain stressors. In this way, we inherit more than biological genes and physical features from our ancestors. At the same time, there are legacy gifts that we may inherit from our ancestors—for example, resilience factors, positive traits, ways of thriving. In my view, legacy burdens and gifts are connected. And I believe that legacy burdens can be transformed into legacy gifts sometimes.
Legacy burdens are often closely connected to historical and societal contexts. What are some of the historical events -- e.g. wars, presidential elections, policy changes -- that impacted your family? What are some of the societal contexts that influenced your upbringing-- e.g. , moving from one place to another, what kind of neighborhood you grew up in, etc.?
When extreme emotions, beliefs, or energy come up in clients during a therapy session, I ask clients “Where did you learn to think this way?” or “Who taught you to feel that way?” These questions sometimes lead to identifying burdens and gifts that they inherited from parents/grandparents/ancestors. When we understand our emotions, beliefs, and actions, we can be more compassionate toward ourselves and others.
To make this month’s Mokuhanga images was to sit with the family history of mine and understand why fear has been such a familiar emotion for some of us in the family. To make art is to understand ourselves.
Updated on 7/19/24
There are stories related to legacy burdens and gifts in my life.
In the next month, I am going to capture these stories as new layers over the ones I printed this month.
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