I have been focused on the topic of bad medicine in my life recently. Out in the southwest here, karma is called medicine. Medicine can heal, but bad medicine is poison. Good medicine can be bad medicine if it is not at the right time or in the right amount. The key is to see what heals you, and what kills you. What gives you energy and what makes you lethargic, what makes you love, hate, envy, or adore.
Only you can tell what medicine is good or bad, and it is not the same for everyone either. Medicine can come in the way of deeds, prayer, thought, or words. Medicine can be held inside for a long time. Medicine can be memories, good or bad, secrets that are held onto, or it can simply be water when you are thirsty.
Medicine can be the view of a beautiful sunset, or the environments that make you feel safe. It can be a warm blanket or a cold shower.
We get addicted to and used to our medicines sometimes to the point we don’t recognize them. Just like a pothead that does not realize how high he is, or a drunk that thinks they are sober. Nicotine is a good and bad medicine, both a joy and a curse in its own time. Alcohol, drugs, and even pharmaceutical medicine are all medicines.
Sometimes we don’t realize our medicine. We hold onto negative emotions longer than we need to; it can cause bad medicine to build up inside. Bad medicine inside wreaks havoc on your organs. Recognizing medicine requires first a desire to heal. While a shaman can guide you to find the medicine, it is up to you to use it, dose it, and quit it when it turns bad.
So, this holiday season, Sancho, we will give ourselves the gift of recognizing the medicines we have been taking and adjusting our dosages. If anyone can help us realize our medicines, it is our family. They magnify the effect of medicine.
It will be just in time for the new year, when we will resolve to adjust the medicine in my life, build boundaries to keep some out, find the good, dose it, and remember to take it until it becomes a habit. In that way, we can give ourselves the gift of healing—the best gift of all.
DQuixote 