I sat next to a man named Santos at lunch in Peru a couple of weeks ago.

He’s Q’ero and his ancestry dates back over 500 years ago to a culture living at the top of the Andes, differently impacted by colonization than Indigenous communities in the United States because where they live is so hard to get to.

He and his dad, a Shaman who speaks only Quechua, had walked two hours and driven seven to lead us through a Despacho ceremony about Ayni, or sacred reciprocity.

At lunch, Santos asked me about my ancestry. As I explained all the different countries my ancestry contains a mix of, I couldn’t help but notice the contrast.

I know so little about how anyone in my line lived prior to my great-grandparents. The thread of his ancestry is much easier to trace to the source.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the people who came before us and what we inherit from them. Not financially, but culturally, emotionally, behaviorally, and energetically.

Some people inherit money. But everyone inherits patterns.

Some patterns serve us. Some don’t. Sorting out the threads of what we want to keep and what we want to let go of makes all the difference.

This week is the fourth in a four-part series on Plenty called Inheritance.

If you’re the first in your family to go to college, start your own business, find healthy love, make more money, or anything else that’s different than your ancestors, this last episode is for you.

Press play on Why Being the First In Your Family Can Feel Like Betrayal.

 

 

Lineage is powerful. It informs more of our lives than we think. There’s beauty in the threads we can trace back and there can be complexity for some of us, too.

Whether you know who you came from for generation after generation, or just a couple back like me, may we all honor our ancestors by becoming their wildest dreams.

Xo,
Kate