{"id":243,"date":"2010-05-23T13:28:01","date_gmt":"2010-05-23T13:28:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.195.103.127\/health\/2010\/05\/23\/our-family\/"},"modified":"2010-05-23T13:28:01","modified_gmt":"2010-05-23T13:28:01","slug":"our-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/2010\/05\/23\/our-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Our family"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>2010 Pine Ridge Trip<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"CassidyHS.jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/CHSimages\/CassidyHS.jpg\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/class=\"img-left\"> This place is indescribable.  The feelings that run through you are unlike any other.  In this \u201ccircle\u201d world, there is no need for a mask to guard you, no fear of judgment, but rather an acceptance, an understanding, and a warm \u201cblanket\u201d of family.<br \/>\nPart of our family left us today, back to the \u201csquare\u201d world, but there are no goodbyes. It\u2019s <em>doksha<\/em> \u2013 see you later.  Within a matter of seven days, we formed this close bond and became family.  It was as if we were all meant to be here together, a unique blend that really made this trip unlike any other.  We all come away from this experience with the memory of each other, what we have learned, and the hope to spread that knowledge in the \u201csquare\u201d world.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"PineRidge10 Group.jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/CHSimages\/PineRidge10%20Group.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"214\" \/><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><br \/>\nWhat a gift we have been given out here, and I am so fortunate to have taken part. Everything has a meaning and they teach you to be observant \u2013 the meadowlark singing on the wooden post, the dreams that come to you, the emotions and energy\u2026  We took part in many spiritual ceremonies: the inipi, the vision quest, and we\u2019ve learned some of the language, seen their cultural dances at the pow wow, learned to cook buffalo stew and fried bread, given each other Lakota names, among many other things. Each experience has left a powerful impression on us because they mean so much to the people here, and each has a history behind it.<br \/>\nMany people see the Native Americans as poverty-stricken, but they are truly rich.  They possess things that many millionaires can only dream of despite their monetary wealth. Money cannot buy happiness, and these people are filled with joy, love, hope, and a positive energy that emanates through you.  They are rich in their culture and, with that, material possessions are of no importance. How I wish the world was more like this, more of a circle rather than a square.<br \/>\nI hope that others have a chance to experience this circle in their lifetime, along with these people who have become my family.<br \/>\nWoman where the earth meets the sky<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2010 Pine Ridge Trip This place is indescribable. The feelings that run through you are unlike any other. In this \u201ccircle\u201d world, there is no need for a mask to guard you, no fear of judgment, but rather an acceptance, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/2010\/05\/23\/our-family\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,14,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pharmacy","category-mission-to-pine-ridge","category-mission-trips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}