"Ale mura e mura Ise O
Ise O
Ise"
(phonetically from the song by O.J. Ekemode)
"Doing is the medicine for poverty
Doing Ohh
Doing"
The Yoruba word "ise" (pronounced ee shay) is normally translated as the English "work"
I translate it differntly
It appears to be related to the Yoruba word "ase" (pronounced ahh shay)
Ase is the power to make something so...we sometimes think of it as an incantation at the end of a prayer or spiritual request that is a way of asking the Wombniverse to make it so
But from the perspective of Our Ancestors , to whom the word belongs, ase IS the power to make it so...the word itself not only describes the phenomena, but actually IS the phenomena
Back to ise...because it is closely related to ase which is the power of making things happen...ise from an Ancestral perspective seems to be the doing of things...the act of doing
It is necessary to separate this from our English term work because the word work is generally related to groups of meaningless acts that accomplish gargantuan piles of NOTHING
Seriously...for example
My former job was as a counselor of juvenile deliquent youth in a treatment/correctional facility
Of an eight hour day....the first six hours were spent, answering emails, returning phone calls, completing never ending stacks of forms, entering information onto the computer system....and only about 45 mins of the last hour was spent counseling the youth
While all of this was work
None of it was ise
None of it accomplished any task in particular
Ise is...growing the food that you eat
Making the clothes that you wear
Creating your home...building it and beautifying it
Sharing information with others
Dancing
Singing
Acting out and telling stories
Making music
Ise
And according to Our Ancestors...Ise
Actual doing...is the medicine for poverty
You cannot be hungry while actively gathering, hunting and growing food
You cannot need clothes while weaving cloth and creating clothing
You cannot be homeless while building and beautifying a home
"Doing is the medicine for poverty"
I am always moved by the simplicity of the wisdom of Our Ancestors
While we will create programs and build institutions and homeless shelters and welfare assistance
It is only through doing that poverty can be alleviated
I have taken this mantra to heart and realised that it is as simple as this in my own life as well
Working...stringing together meaningless, unfulfilling, status quo maintaing tasks in order to pay the bills will never alleviate a state of want
It is only ISE that can cure poverty
Doing...being....fully existing within the context of the environment that I live in is all that will destroy the negative energies of want and need
"Ise is the medicine for poverty"
"Ise Oh Ise"
