Month: January 2020

Nina the little black bird grew up in a neighbourhood that dressed her. What I mean is that the neighbourhood got into her bones and she wore it as a badge of honour, even though others may have seen the place as less than desirable. The many years of living in this town seemed to have  made Nina a strong and fearless woman. High school  took place without wonder, but upon graduation Nina began to dream. “What if I could actually leave this place and be better?” she thought. “This doesn’t feel like home anymore, it feels repressive.”

Nina stayed in her town through University and then finally on to a great  job, but as time went on, home was still not enough to satisfy Nina. “It is so boring here, I am bigger than this! I can feel it!” thought Nina. A deep yearning was leading her to be more that what she thought she currently was.  A deep yearning was niggling at her right ear feeding her thoughts that made her restless. ” I am fearless and I am strong, but that is not enough”, she felt. Home was not enough for Nina and she didn’t know why. Although all that she needed was there, family, friends, support and safety, Nina felt a homelessness that she believed could only be satiated by leaving and becoming more.

Nina flew from her town and landed in a smaller town. Nina knew the first night she arrived that home was not here either, but she stayed for years and blossomed where she was planted. One dreary night, in this smaller town, Nina got a phone call from mamma bird telling her that papa bird had died suddenly of a heart attack. There is something about losing a parent that makes you feel like you’ve lost a piece of home. At least that is how it felt for Nina. It grieved the little bird, but it also pushed her to keep up the search for what she thought might be home. If dad was gone than it definitely couldn’t be in that town that dressed her, although at times all she wanted was to be wrapped in it’s arms of family and support.

On she went and landed in a big city. One of the biggest in North America. How exciting it was, as she was going to start over and be somebody and live on as a legacy for her dad. And lived she did! She met a  partner bird and they created a little bird all in the span of two years. Nina was on a mission. Mission accomplished right? How much greater can you get than creating a life.

You see this story doesn’t really end the way Nina thought it would. In fact it ends with the preparation to fly back to the town that dressed her and be with her mom. Funnily enough Nina’s partner grew up quite close to the town that dressed Nina and had the same epiphany to return home. Home for Nina as she discovered is where mom is. Nina knows now that she is a mother, that home is where her mom is and that the town that dressed her was simply an extension of her mother. If mamma bird left for the arctic, home would be in the arctic. All along home was in a person. So what happens when that person or home leaves this earth? Does that leave Nina homeless?

Epilogue:

I think that for a lot of children of immigrants, home is and illusive thing when it comes to looking at a piece of land. We live between two worlds and both of them seem to belong to someone else. That is why my home is contained in my mother for me. My home is with the person that loves me beyond life. In Her I find land and in her I find rest.  I am dressed by my mother.

Till next time,

Sarah Afful

Works Cited

D’Souza. J Brian, “Children of Immigrants and their Challenges.” Canadian Immigrant, 2018, www.canadianimmigrant.ca/living/parenting/children-of-immigrants-and-their-challenges. Accessed 28 January 2020.

“Exploring the ‘Kingdom of Women’ in China”.  Today, Youtube, 3 June 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxCOrw2_2ww. Accessed 28 January 2020.

“Flying Black Bird”. Netclipart, 2019, www.netclipart.com/isee/iTwmhi_clip-arts-related-to-flying-black-bird-png/.(Image) Accessed 28 January 2020.

 

I have a great story to tell you, it’s the story of how evil came into the world. In a time before time and in a realm before realms, lived a Beautiful Lady and an Octopus with eight legs. They really got on and enjoyed each others company for years. The Octopus would say, “Gosh I love your gorgeous curls”, and Beautiful Lady would say, “well me too, but I just can’t get over how your tentacles combine beauty and function!”. For clarity sake, let us call the beautiful lady Evelyn after my mom, and the Octopus, Magic, after the gift that she soon discovered she had. Time passed in this realm-less realm and the two women began to feel the signs of boredom. Magic suggested that they create something. Octopus are known for being creative and playful anyway. Evelyn thought that was a perfect idea, but reminded Magic that she was the one in fact with the magic to do so. Upon remembering her gifts for creation, Magic began using each tentacle to create a place they came to call Earth. One tentacle for water, one for sky, one for ground, one for light, one for dark, one for animals and and one for humans. Everything was brilliant and worked in harmony and Evelyn and Magic were a part of a new world full of a love, joy and friendships. One day Magic began to feel ill and it was the first time this had ever happened. Evelyn took a good look at Magic and saw that her eighth tentacle was detaching from her body. “Why are you leaving me?” asked Magic to her tentacle. “Because you left me out, you didn’t give me a part of your creation”. With that the eighth tentacle shot off and began dipping sadness and bad thoughts into the ears of the beings that would allow her; the humans. Poison passed on from generation to generation of the humans and evil became a part of every person. That is how evil came into the world.

So. That is my story! I had a dream about it last night. I was thinking about how mystery seems to engender fear and that my fear of the eight legged creature called the Octopus was based on the fact that I knew little about her. Do we fear those whose stories are mysterious to us? Do we detach when we feel we can’t find our intersection with something or someone? And does that separation lead to our darker selves?

Reactions:

The first person I called was my mom. She is very religious as I have expressed in a previous post and so I was curious as to what she would hear. She thought my story was amazing and that I could get a well-paying job telling stories. I told her I am  already an actor, I do tell stories for a living. She agreed. She then told me that she was glad that I knew God, because God gives us the opportunity to choose between good and evil.  As much as she liked the imaginative aspect of my story she also called it a “bad” and “horrible story”. She felt that the eighth leg shouldn’t have done what she did even though her feelings were hurt.

When I called my brother, he was working but was ever so thankful for the five minute break to hear a story. He kept saying “wow” and “that is really cool” and that he really liked the story. How different were those responses between my mom and my brother. What I learned is that for some, the creation story can be an escape into the imagination and for others, a way to reflect on their own beliefs and philosophies. For me, after reading Thomas King’s version of the creation story, I truly question what I believe  and what purpose my beliefs serve in the world. Am I willing to change?

Till next time,

Sarah Afful

Works Cited

Hoare, Phillip.  “Redeeming the Octopus-the most remarkable creature of our nightmares.” Cultural Capital, 20 August 2015, www.newstatesman.com/sites/default/files/styles/cropped_article_image/public/blogs_2015/08/2015_33_octopus_critics.jpg?itok=Qu7GqqhI. Accessed 23 January 2020.

Rumble Viral. “Tiny Cute Octopus Plays With Scuba Diver” Youtube, 21 December 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PUp-kYQ4k4. Accessed 23 January 2020.

 

 

Good evening my fellow Canadian Literature seekers! My name is Sarah Afful and I am going to be writing you from Toronto. I chose to study with you all at UBC, because I am from Vancouver and I did my undergrad there … yet Toronto called my name and thus here we are!

I cannot wait to jump into this course, as the structure of it is different from any university course I have ever taken. As we jump in and begin to question the system, so to speak, I deeply hope that we can shift our beliefs on what comprises Canadian literature. I hope to gain some agency in my studies and have a tiny impact on the future of the Canadian literature canon. As an African-Canadian I rarely get to explore the canon of literature in school,  outside of Europe and I hope to find intersections between my experience and the Indigenous experience throughout the course. I also hope to gain literacy in web logging, as this is my first foray into that world! Bear with me as I find my footing.

In this course let us discover deeply the relationships between stories and land, but more pointedly the land that we all call our home. Working collaboratively we will become a part of the re-imagining  and shaping of Canadian literature. I am most excited to be a part of that. We will re-imagine Canadian literature by culminating all of our semesters discussions and research into an Intervention Conference. How active! How important! This group dialogue we call our Intervention Conference, will allow us to offer up ideas on how to change the stories we tell ourselves and the way we tell our stories. So. Let’s dive in.

Is music as potent a way of telling our stories as the novel? Have a listen and sense if you get a story:

How are we supposed to tell our stories?

“We must tell them–around fireplaces, in cafes, on blogs, in theaters, on walls, on street corners, in front of our computers. We must unleash them from cages, trusting they’ll fly onto the shoulders and hearts of a listener, or two, or more. Sometimes like raindrops on a pond, they’ll create ripple effects in communities, and most certainly will touch a person’s life.”- (Unknown) Big Voice Pictures

 

Till next time!

Yours,

Sarah Afful

January 12 2020

Works Cited

“Anansi the spider” Pinterest, www.pinterest.ca/pin/234046511866636276/?lp=true. Accessed 12 January 2020.

A Tribe Called Red FT. Black Bear. “Stadium Pow Wow (Official Video)” YouTube, 16 June 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAEmjW9J3_o. Accessed 12 January 2020.

“The Power of Story: The Inspiration of Maya Angelou.” Big Voice Pictures, August 2018, www.bigvoicepictures.com/blog/2014/09/09/the-power-of-story-the-inspiration-of-maya-angelou. Accessed 12 January 2020.