These are 5 untranslatable words about nature, and our relationship with the earth, that I recently came across:

Tenalach (Irish): A word used in the hills and mountains in the west of Ireland. It points to a relationship one has with the land/air/water, a deep connection that allows one to literally hear the earth sing…

Hear the earth sing

Komorebi (Japanese): The scattered, dappled light effect when sunlight shines through tree leaves.

Gökotta (Swedish): To wake up early in the morning with the purpose of going outside to hear the first birds of spring sing.

Aloha aina (Hawaiian): This phrase means “love of the land.”  Hawaiians are the land, in the sense that the land provides food, water, clothing, and shelter. Showing care for the land, while visiting, is a wonderful way to show care and respect to the people of Hawaii.

Dadirri (Aboriginal Australian): An ancient word that combines contemplation, deep inner listening, and quiet still awareness of creation and the Creator, Dadirri is like a crystal clear water hole that calls us to be replenished and revitalized. To embody Dadirri, is to be at peace with yourself, with others, in nature, and with the Creator. Be patient with yourself, with your neighbor, and wait upon the seasons. Become aware of the sacredness that surrounds you. Hear creation breathe and follow her rhythm.

Do you have any words to add?

Photo by Lize van Dyk

Our family is bilingual (English and Afrikaans) and we’re trying to add Spanish to our language mix too.  I’ve enjoyed reading François Grosjean’s book, Bilingual, to put names to all the things we experience and wonder about. Do you have to be equally fluent in two languages to be bilingual? Why do my kids keep switching languages, or translate words directly? Can you learn a new language later in life?

One of the most interesting chapters for me was to read about how bilinguals dream. After 17 years in the USA, I still dream in only Afrikaans. Our girls tell me they are dreaming in English, Afrikaans and Spanish. My sister has had fluent conversations in Spanish while dreaming after only a few Spanish classes.

Prof. Grosjean says this is all part of the spectrum of experiences. He did a survey and found 64% of bilinguals and trilinguals say that they dream in one or the other language, depending on the dream. The place that the dream takes place in, or the people in your dream, may influence what language you dream in. Some people even dream in no language at all! Steven Pinker calls this the “language of thought”.

I’m still hoping to dream in another language one day. Let me know what languages you dream in!

A couple of years ago, I did research on the Swedish word Lagom and designed a t-shirt to go with the meaning: Enough is as good as a feast. Lagom describes having just enough (food, clothing, shelter). You decide on your own “enough”, nobody can prescribe it to you.

Lagom changed my life. I became aware of how much stuff I bring into the house. I now ask myself if I really need it before I buy. I’ve started following Bea’s blog TheZeroWasteHome.com, read about the man who only owns 15 things, and become inspired to simplify, reduce, and pare down. I still buy way too many things that I regret, it is definitely a journey!

One year ago we spent Christmas in South Africa, and knowing we can’t bring back gifts in our already-stuffed-suitcases, we asked our family to give our girls experiences instead of gifts. The family responded by organizing a puppet show (and making it a wonderful afternoon to remember with friends and many kids), taking the kids snorkeling in the ocean and showing them what swims and grows there, and taking the kids to the beach for a fun day.

This year we were in Florida for Christmas. We visited the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, where Winter the dolphin from Dolphin Tale lives. The girls were in awe to see their first “movie star”.

I’m hoping that I can live into the spirit of Lagom more and more over the coming years: showing our kids that you don’t need physical gifts to celebrate, but that it is the experiences that you’ll carry in your memory forever.

How do you plan to find your own Lagom in your life?

“The official languages of the Republic are Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu.”

As a side note, this makes South Africa only second to India, which recognizes 23 official languages in its Constitution, with the number of dialects as high as 1,650!

Most South Africans can speak more than one language. Growing up, I never appreciated the wonder of hearing different sounds and languages around you every day; to hear the rhythms of a language even though you don’t understand what is being said.

Here are 11 words for peace, in the national languages of South Africa. May your year be filled with peace, in whichever language you choose to say it!

Xhosa: uxolo

Zulu and Ndebele: ukuthula

Tsonga: ku rhula

Venda: mulalo

English: peace

Sesotho: kgotso

Afrikaans: vrede

Tswana: kagiso

Northern Sotho/Sepedi: khutšo

Swati: lucolo

Mudita Mandala

I love words. Maybe you do to. I seek words, not the normal, everyday words, but words in languages that I do not understand, words that can teach me concepts from other cultures. These words, I believe, can inform my life and all of our lives in positive, life-giving ways. In fact, I’ve built a business around these words, a company called MotherTongues. And I’ve written how these words have changed me, and my family’s life.

Sometimes I just know when I find a word that it will change me in more ways that I can anticipate. One such recent word is mudita (moo-dee-TAH). It is a Sanskrit word describing a state of happiness in response to someone else’s success in life. Imagine taking delight in and being happy for someone else’s good fortune, despite your own circumstances at the moment. Surely such an attitude can change one’s life!

We have many English antonyms for mudita — envy, jealousy, pity — but no words describing feelings of happiness or even approval at another’s success. I read somewhere that we are taught to pursue our dreams and to resent those who achieve theirs.

The spirit against which mudita speaks, is found in the German word schadenfreude: taking pleasure in other’s misfortune. Often magazines, TV shows, and gossip invite us to find happiness and a sense of well-being in observing someone else’s trouble. Schadenfreude is a powerful attitude, one that sells.

If we live life as though there is a fixed amount of happiness in the world, or that one’s happiness is threatened or diminished by the happiness of others, it is easy to grow a resentful, competitive spirit. Think of the possibilities if you know that happiness that flows from you will return in abundance.

Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Zen master, writes about mudita in Teachings on Love:

“A deeper definition of the word mudita is a joy that is filled with peace 
and contentment. We rejoice when we see others happy, but we rejoice in our own well-being as well. How can we feel joy for another person when we do not feel joy for ourselves?”

Mudita never denies sadness or sorrow. Our awareness of grief and sorrow, however, helps us to find our own joy in things big and small, as well as in the joys of others. Echoing Thich Nhat Hanh, author Sharon Salzberg writes in her book, Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness that

“Remembering the truth of the vast potential for suffering in this world, we can feel happy that someone, anyone, also experiences some happiness.”

I want to live with mudita in my heart and model this counter-cultural way of living for my daughters and those that cross my path. Of course I’ll fail at times, but I’m reminded that there is more than enough happiness to go around. This knowledge continually brings me back to the heart of mudita.

May the power of mudita grow in you as you discover that in this world, there is enough happiness–and love–for all.

September 21, 2011 is the 30th anniversary of the International Day of Peace. The United Nations proclaimed the day to provide an opportunity for individuals, organizations and nations to create practical acts of peace on a shared date.

A Peace Day event can be as simple as lighting a candle or meditate on Peace on September 21. It can be as complex as organizing a Peace Concert for thousands of people. Or anything in between.

The 3 guiding principles to follow for Peace Day are:

* Peace within – a Minute of Silence at noon in each time zone;
* Peace without – an Act of Service for Peace that benefits the larger community;
* Peace year round – a commitment to a Daily Peace Practice by joining with others to build a worldwide Culture of Peace.

You can find some of the events organized around the world (and on the internet) here:
http://internationaldayofpeace.org/news_and_updates/
Peace day events around the world

Be seen. Be visible. Let the world know you care about peace.

A few weeks ago I was part of a #momovation Twitter party, and met Melissa Wardy of Pigtail Pals. She spreads positive empowering messages for girls through t-shirts and other gear. How exciting to see her become part of the conversation around JCPenney, and get some good business out of it. I love it!

The whole debate about degrading t-shirts (for kids and adults) made me think about the reasons I started MotherTongues. There are very few t-shirts for adults in the marketplace today that I will wear: I don’t want to be an advertisement for an athletic brand, and I don’t want to wear profanity. That excludes a lot of t-shirts. Thus the positive, uplifting messages from cultures from around the world on MotherTongues t-shirts. I love my job!

I recently went hiking in Italy with my mom and sisters. Part of the fun for me, other than spending time with my family who I don’t see very often since we live on different continents, was learning some new things about life in Italy.

We walked past lots of mushrooms, and I learnt that you need to have a license to pick mushrooms. In some areas, you can get the license only once you attended a basic course and passed a test. Each region has its own regulations, and also its own picking calendar (days when mushroom picking is allowed), as well as the quantity of mushrooms allowed per person (usually 3kg per person per day). Placing the mushrooms in bags is illegal: you must use wicker-type baskets for collection to ensure that the mushroom spores are distributed as you walk through the woods.

Each year about 40,000 people suffer mushroom poisoning in Italy, so it is very important to be 100% sure your mushrooms are edible. In Italy, you can take your wild picked mushrooms to the local pharmacist or doctor who will identify them free of charge. Our Italian guide for our hike, told us that if you don’t take your mushrooms to the pharmacy and your guests die from mushroom poisoning, you can get tried for manslaughter! Definitely an incentive to make sure about your mushroom’s identity!

Wild mushrooms are the main ingredient in fettuccine ai funghi – some form of which are on many local menus in the Italian Alps. I can definitely recommend trying it!

]]> http://mothertonguesblog.com/2011/07/06/mushrooming-in-italy/feed/ 0 mothertonguesclothing 30272rusw26krq http://mothertonguesblog.com/2011/06/09/mandela-day-what-will-you-do/ http://mothertonguesblog.com/2011/06/09/mandela-day-what-will-you-do/#comments Thu, 09 Jun 2011 04:22:28 +0000 Michelle http://mothertonguesclothing.wordpress.com/?p=184 ]]> July 18 is Nelson Mandela’s birthday. He will be 93 this year. A couple of years ago, the United Nations adopted the day as an annual Mandela Day. But it is more than a celebration of Madiba’s (his Xhosa clan name and how he is affectionately known in South Africa) life and legacy. Mandela Day asks us all to embrace Madiba’s values and honor his legacy through an act of kindness. How?

Nelson Mandela gave 67 years of his life to the struggle for social justice: serving his community, his country, and the world at large. Mandela Day asks us to donate 67 minutes of time to doing something good, in a small gesture of solidarity with humanity. Can you spare 67 minutes of your life on July 18 to support a charity or serve your local community?

Last year, my mom’s retirement community in South Africa got together on Mandela Day to knit dolls for kids living in poverty. That’s when I realized the influence Madiba had on our country. If the generation who put him behind bars for 27 years, could now serve their communities as an act of honoring Mandela, we’ve come a long way.

Now go do something good. *

* You can find some ideas of what to do, here on the Mandela Day website.

“It is time for the next generations to continue our struggle against social injustice and for the rights of humanity. It is in your hands.” – NELSON MANDELA