Walking Spirit in a Native Way

  Telling Stories rather than Reading Stories                 Excerpts of interview with Hannah Thomas of HeartRising.com When telling stories that have happened to me, I am speaking of the stories from the experience as spirit gave it to me. When telling the stories of the people, the Native stories, stories about the seven grandfathers that creator put on this earth to watch over us and try to help us to understand and follow guidance, or the four chiefs that brought us the medicines to help to heal the people and other stories that I tell. I tell them as I heard them at the fire. What that means is when I go to ceremonies or I visit communities of the Native people that are still in this country practicing their traditional beliefs, I listen to the old story tellers as they tell the stories. The stories that I tell are those stories, the ones that I have heard and very often, when I am telling them, people will say; You don’t sound like ...

  This is what I see! These days it is hard to know what is real and what is not. Our leaders seem to be focused on dividing the people. The age-old battle cry of, divide and conquer, seems to be the current political effort to change the world we live in. Distraction, false information, blaming, and name calling are all part of this recipe. Are we, the people, supposed to choose sides? The news media and method of getting the news out is another modern-day dilemma. Each news media presents their story differently and often focuses on one or two headliners while disregarding the other news at hand. More often than not it seems that the media is responding to political pressure in their reporting. Who do you believe?  Now, include AI, Artificial Intelligence, or more correctly I think, Altered Intelligence. Articles and stories are now being put out through social media, printed media, and other sources that have no basis of truth. Many of these are actually insulting to anyone...

One of the strengths in writing is being a good observer. Over time I have learned what many already know. Just be there! At one point in my life, I was going through a transition and visited a town in southwest Colorado. I went there to get away from my surroundings and try to make some sense out of my life. It was a painful time! Visiting that town, Durango, became an almost weekly trek for me to just get away and regroup my thoughts for a new direction. Though my life had been reasonably successful in family and business, it was not what I wanted, and my hope was to realize a new direction.  A new lease on life, so to speak. I would check in one of the older hotels in town and then visit different places around the area. Sometimes I would sit in a local restaurant in the Strater Hotel or one of the many coffee shops in town. I did not know anyone in the town but gradually, over the weeks, some of the locals befriended me. I would sit and listen to there stories to...

  TRUTH   Understand all that is of those things that you use.   Truth is the completeness of understanding of what is.   Know that all that can be truth is not for man to understand. The layers of truth are like that of  the layers of an onion and beyond. Each layer leaves a new truth to be understood.   Only Creator can know the all of what is!   Be true to yourself and true to your fellow man. Always speak the truth as best that you know.         MII SHII KEN'H - Totem animal for truth   James Beard aka Noodin                Cultural Storyteller, Educator, Speaker,                Author ...

  JITHU | INFLUENCER     Book Review: Walking Spirit in a Native Way: White Mocs on the Red Road by James B. Beard     Walking Spirit in a Native Way: White Mocs on the Red Road by James B. Beard is a profound and moving exploration of spirituality, identity, and transformation. It is more than a personal story—it is a reflection on what it means to live in harmony with nature, spirit, and oneself. Through his journey, Beard, known by his Native name Noodin, invites readers into a world shaped by the teachings of the Ojibwe people and guided by the wisdom of his mentor, Misho, an elder whose insight and patience illuminate every page.     The narrative begins with a deceptively simple exchange. When Misho asks Noodin, “Who are you,” and Noodin replies, “I am just a man,” it marks the beginning of a lifelong spiritual awakening. From that moment, Beard begins to see life through a different lens—one that values humility, reflection, and the understand...