Barbara Wilkessupported by and reflective of community standards, morals, and val-
ues. I have realized firsthand the process and the state of constant flux
in the universe and have developed an appreciation of its value as a
source of change, growth, and transformation, and as a precondition
for knowledge production. I now recognize that stories are knowledge
and have the potential through process and transformation to actual-
ize both theory and practice. I am sensitive to and aware of the con-
stant movement between the positive and negative forces of the uni-
verse and ourselves, which constantly seek their own level and thus
produce balance and harmony in the world. And I now know with cer-
tainty that everything in the Kainai world is literally, not figuratively,
charged with the positive value of spirituality and relations.
Likewise, I now know that there are no simple oppositions in the
world, no obvious demarcations between those who are good and
those who are evil, and I realize that both are necessary and coexist
in us all in equal measure. I now know that the choices we make in
life and the steps we take (both conscious and unconscious) define
our moral position in the universe, as there is no natural justice or
absolution, only responsibility and the full recognition that it is not
possible to save or change another. Each one must access the flux and
seek transformation for him or herself. I have learned that the world’s
full measure of justice is found in the sum of what we each put into
it and that we each carry the weight of our own culpability for suf-
fering throughout our lives. I now know that only relationships add
positive value to life (this one or the next) and that material pleasures
are fleeting indeed.
In truth, we need very little to survive in life, some water, a little
food, and good relations. Thus, I know that reciprocity and sharing
is always a gift to the self. I also know that death is not the irrevoca-
ble loss I always believed it to be; rather, it is a part of the process of
natural flux and continuous regeneration, a momentary loss that ac-
companies a transformation of form, as the energies of the universe
readjust to our passing. Finally, I now know that there is grace in ag-
ing and in learning life’s lessons well and that there are pleasures and
penalties associated with each age.