Episode 168: Indigenous Wisdom Stories: A Place to Just Be

Today, Julia revisits one of her most cherished stories: a memory from 1957 in the Mission District of San Francisco, when she was four or five years old and her Tía Francisca was living with the family.

This is a story about what happens when two people show up in a kitchen with a willingness to just be. No fixing, no pretending. Julia talks about soul care—not the Instagram version with bath bombs, but real tending. The kind that happens when you're known, your whole self, the grief and the giggles and the messy parts in between.

Julia also opens about belonging—what it means to really belong somewhere, not just show up and be tolerated. And she shares what the School Without Walls is building: a space where you can come as you are and be held.

Julia also shares this reflection which pairs with today's episode:

On the day we held the service for my Tia Francisca, it was a beautiful day but I was feeling very heavy in my heart. As we were going into the chapel, I saw what I first thought was a huge bird, but it was a Blue Dragonfly. So today, I want to share with you Blue Dragonfly's message that I heard on that day:

Hey Mija, 

Do you really think we have left you behind? Do you really think we do not guard you?
Listen to me. You are loved beyond any love you could imagine.
Have faith in yourself and in us that all is working out for your good and happiness.

That sure sounds like something my Tia Francisca would say.

(Image courtesy of vecteezy)

Julia's mom and Tia, making tamales.