Eugene Joe is a Navajo sand artist who lives near Shiprock, New Mexico. At an early age, Eugene’s grandfather helped him discover his gift of art. His grandfather would send the boy to meditate on a nearby hill and say, “You have a gift that’s inside of you. Go there and find it.”
“Your creator gave you a special tool in your life. To find that is to learn how to face the reality of life.”
In the time of wagons and horses and dirt roads, my grandfather used to tell me, “Go on that hill.”
That’s where my discipline began. He told me to sit out there and meditate and focus on my life. And so I would sit up there, maybe for three or four hours. Sitting there, the first thing I thought about was that I was afraid of ants, spiders, snakes, scorpions, and centipedes. Before I left the wagon, my grandfather said, “ Don’t think of things that surround you that will interfere with you. Focus. Focus on yourself. Don’t look at the ants. Don’t look at the centipedes. Don’t feel the heat that burns your skin. Become one so you learn how to face what surrounds you. And learn to overcome those fears.”
Sitting there on the hill, I began drawing on the earth—and there was the gift. That’s why I’m a sand artist. It was set before me. All I had to do was reach out and walk into it.
Everything is up to you. If you want peace in your life, you have to make that peace. If you want to be successful, you have to make that happen. If you want an education, you have to make it happen. It’s up to us, up to the whole world itself to become one again. That’s how I see it and I believe in that.
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Discussion Questions
- Have you found your “gift” as Eugene describes it? If yes, what is it and what is it about that gift that is fulfilling? If no, are you seeking for your gift? Does it make you more anxious or excited? Do you feel pressure to discover your gift?
- What fears keep you from realizing your full potential?
- Do you ever find yourself wanting to “rush into the future?” Why do you rush?
- How do you make peace happen in your life? Is it something you have to work for?
- What have you discovered lately that has brought excitement and/or fulfillment to you?