Miskasowin is a term that very few people know and I myself didn’t know what it was in the beginning of this semester. However it’s now a term that I find myself thinking about all the time, and it has become a huge part of my life. I created my visual based on the two different ‘parts’ of me. The first half is what I believed was me. This strong tree who knew everythi9ng she needed to know with my roots holding me up (friends, family, school, health). These roots were me and they were what I lived for. These were the things that were always on my mind so in my eyes, the journey of finding myself had already been completed. I have changed greatly since then and the things that I thought mattered don’t matter as much as I had thought. Family: this is my family, my niece, my sister, my grandparents etc. These are the people that matter most to me and when asked about my family, this is who I talked about. This IS my family. However, the journey of miskasowin has showed me that there is so much more then what lies on the surface. This opened my eyes because I quickly realized that I don’t know who my family is. I don’t know who they are or where they came from so how can I say that family is a root of mine? The things I love to do: I enjoy going on trips and being outside that was something that was truly important to me however I rarely took the time to do these things and I don’t know why. Part of my journey is taking the time to do more of what I love. Friends: going out, having fun, socializing and getting out of the house is something that mattered to me. This is what I thought I needed and wanted. I still love going out with friends but there is more to it then that. I have learnt that I need to think more about who I am surrounding myself with and if they are improving my quality of life or not. These things do matter to me but I find myself saying that there is more to it and I’m just at the surface level of things but I still looking for what I’m digging deeper for. I feel like I am supposed to get dressed up and put on my glasses and be this picture perfect teacher that teaches children but I don’t know who I am as a person so how can I go teach children about things that will impact their lives? The last half of my visual is who I am now. I don’t know exactly who I am or where I am heading in life. I don’t have life figured out yet and that’s ok. These leaves are things that matter to me right now. These leaves are all of these photos and some of them are going to die off and fall of my branches because they won’t matter anymore and I need to accept that and learn that thats life and it’s going to happen. These logs are what I cut down. The biases and the thought that I need to know everything all the time because I’m a teacher and Im educating others. My miskasowin process is me realizing and learning that not knowing where I am headed and my purpose right now is ok.
Logan Schmidt 