2024-09-03 I Inquiry I Turning Words I Josh Gifford

Appamada

For my names they are many, Trudy, child, tinker, mucky pup, daughter, sister, friend, schoolgirl, lover, student, drop out, nun, student, shop owner, Hema, teacher, wife, mother, housewife, student, counsellor, therapist, supervisor, trainer, grandmother, student, teacher, trainer, student, great grandmother, and now a new name, and a new family, that join the list of things I have been and I have done. All flow, and all ebb, each part becoming the next thing, although each part is also entire unto itself. What names do we give ourselves, what names do we cherish, or loathe. Which names trap us, and which free us. There is a koan, “Show me your original face before you were born” now my koan is “Tell my your name before you given one” ~Trudy Johnston