This may look terribly self-indulgent, but moving from definitions, free associating & visioning from there yields a lot of material useful for self growth. It's also a little known region of our natural world & if the vistas I've seen online are any indication, the place is gorgeous.

Yes, I'm in a space of digging in to discover more, remake myself, complete myself, understand & share my place in the world, my soul contribution.

One of the meanings is actually from "Pomir" which is what the peoples of the region know it as. Some say it means "the roof of the world." Others say it's "feet of the sun." No doubt it is the roof the world since it contains many of the highest peaks on the planet.

But feet of the sun?! Now I'm impressed. Pamir also means "wide open valleys." That makes me breathe better right away.

My fascination is also about our natural world. What a gem this Earth is. She's so beautiful. I'm in love with her! Generous, abundant, giving & so very strong & powerful. I celebrate you Earth Woman; I revel in your curves & valleys, your points & gorges, your verdure & sapphire; I love you Earth, you are the spirit of kindness.

I'm excited about the possibility of travel there. And mountains are sacred. The illustrious Himalayas; our various volcanoes; Kilimanjaro in Africa; the holy mountains of Japan (a Reiki connection for me); and the others I'm missing. So much folklore, legend, worship & imagining associated with mountains!

I've roots there. Well, nomadic ones. Memories of yurts & fires; horseback antics & smoky quartz; tribal knowledge, earth living, rich colors.

I draw from Pamir. I draw heightening, opening, connection of sun to earth & vice versa. My heart fills & my spirit renews. Humanity & life look good to me. Now how can I make it better? How can I better myself?

Pamir says higher consciousness to me, yet it's also the dirt which means practical solutions for real people. I'd like to live up to the inspiration of my name!

I watched "In My Country" last night with Samul L. Jackson & Juliet Binoche about the end of apartheid & how that society dealt with it. The movie is good, it even inspired this entry.

The essential philosophy that was used to start healing in South Africa is ubuntu. A So. African jazz website describes it as:

A Zulu word, literally meaning “humanness.” Ubuntu is a social and spiritual philosophy serving as a framework for African society. Its essential meaning can be conveyed using the Zulu maxim “umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu”—meaning, in essence, “a person is a person through other persons.” The practice of ubuntu is fundamentally inclusive, involving respect and concern for one's family and one's neighbors. It also implies respect for one's ancestors, in a deeper spiritual sense. Ubuntu defines the individual as a component of a greater (inclusive) collective whole, and it stresses social consciousness and unity. (Most dramatically, ubuntu stands diametrically opposite to the concept of apartheid.)

In my most recent visceral forays, I 've just been feeling this Earth of ours, it's land masses & bodies of water. I think it's great that there's so much focus on Africa, the ignored continent with it's poverty, AIDS, malaria, genocides, and yet a huge and resilient heritage of wisdom & living arts.

Which society, governmental body, corporation, social organization, relationship or family couldn't use ubuntu?!

Desmond Tutu elaborates:

A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.

In Zimbabwe ubuntu is unhu. Stanlake J. W. T. Samkange puts it into 3 maxims:

1) To be human is to affirm one’s humanity by recognizing the humanity of others and, on that basis, establish respectful human relations with them.
2) If and when one is faced with a decisive choice between wealth and the preservation of the life of another human being, then one should opt for the preservation of life.
3) The king owed his status, including all the powers associated with it, to the will of the people under him.

Our leaders, are you listening?

I found this on YouTube, it's not my video. I watched the entire BBC / Discovery series Planet Earth with my son & it belongs in every DVD collection.

If that series doesn't get us off our butts to work with our planet, I don't what will. The many first-time footage captured & new technology used really does the Earth true honor.

This video must be some kind of trailer -- I recognize some of the images from the series, but not all. The music is by Sigor Ros (Victory Rose) an Icelandic band. The song is Hoppipola (Hopping into puddles).