mitho-okâwîmâwi-kîsikâw!
ᒥᖪᐅᑳᐑᒫᐏᑮᓯᑳᐤ!
Happy Mother’s Day!
kîtha mâni mâka.
ᑮᖬ ᒫᓂ ᒫᑲ᙮
It’s up to you.
A reflection from Solomon Ratt:
I’m 69 years old and I finally know what my late mother meant by that idiom. She nursed me through my first terrible hangover. I said “namôtha kîhtwâm! – Never again!” And she said, “kîtha mâni mâka,” with a chuckle.
She would use the same idiom to describe consequences, for example when a particular trickster (not to be named this time of year) got himself into yet another predictable jam:
wîtha mâni mâka.
ᐑᖬ ᒫᓂ ᒫᑲ᙮
It’s his own doing.
My addictions led me to a road where I no longer had a choice but to feed those addictions. It took years to get out but I eventually did.
I no longer indulge so now I once again have the freedom to choose. In short, I must accept, or change, the circumstances from my own choices in life. “Happiness is an inside job!” (another of those English idioms that just doesn’t translate directly, but thanks to my mother, we can come pretty close).
mithwîthihtamowin: kîtha mâni mâka.
ᒥᙹᖨᐦᑕᒧᐏᐣ: ᑮᖬ ᒫᓂ ᒫᑲ᙮
Happiness: It’s up to you!
