9 Steps to being a Good Ancestor

PROOF in ACTION 36

Being a Good Ancestor should by now seem like a good idea. The question you might be asking right now is, how do I do that? Here are some practical steps you can take to start being a good ancestor today.

• Learn about your direct ancestors. What were the unique circumstances they lived through? What challenges did they overcome? What gifts did they leave you? Connect with them and make them present in your life today.
• Learn about your more distant cultural ancestors. Where did they come from? What were their rituals for honouring their ancestors. See if you can use these rituals to see your place as a part of a continuum of a human lineage.
• Think about what kinds of investments you can make that are compounding in interest. These investments need not be money but rather can be time and attention. For example you may choose to invest in caring for your children which will likely make them more likely to be good parents and so on.
• Examine your goals and desires. Are their items that are short sighted — not serving a multi-generational benefit? If so consider putting these goals and desires aside for a better future.
• Climate change is the most pressing issue of our time. We must tranform our lifestyles to be sustainable, low carbon and reuse, recycle oriented. It’s time to abandon consumer culture and find fulfilment in our contributions to all life.

Beyond the practical there are some shifts in your thinking and being that will orient you towards being a good ancestor.

• Contemplate your descendants. What kind of life are they likely to live? If you could send them one gift down through the generations, what would it be. Imagine that gift in a future descendants hands. What would it take to make sure that your gift arrives in the future?
• Imagine a desirable future for yourself and your descendants. Now orient your life to making that vision happen.
• Listen to your descendants, born and not yet born. Ask them what they want and need in their lives to be happy and fulfilled.
• Consider that you are part of The Long Now that covers the past 10,000 years of time going back and 10,000 years of time going forward into the future. What is your part to play in the story of humanity.

If you have additional thoughts on actions we can all take, please post them in the conversation below.

Check out the rest of PROOF 36 here: https://proofzine.com/2021/12/19/proof-36-the-good-ancestor/