Genetic Memory

20 Marbles
We begin by moving into a house furnished in part by attitudes, beliefs, and habits passed on to us by our families and by our culture. Some people never make the house their own and so do not develop a distinct identity or style. Those who do take their journeys and (to continue the metaphor) furnish their own houses do so at different paces and different orders.
Carol S. Pearson, "The Hero Within" 

    I was walking with a friend the other day, talking about exercise and how we both want to move our bodies more in the New Year. I could hear my Grandmother’s voice over my shoulder, “Exercise? What’s that? All of life is exercise.” The concept of having to improve wellness with activities that require physical effort would have been foreign to a woman who had four kids and worked a dairy farm. For her, life was physical effort.
    Is it a coincidence that I’m in a job that requires bodily effort? On busy nights, there’s so much lifting and running around that I come home physically exhausted (and I consider myself fit).  In psychology, genetic memory “is a process in which a memory is passed down through the generations without the individual having to experience first-hand the topic of the memory.” Is it possible that I have inherited my ancestor’s definition of work? How much of who I am is me? How much is my grandmother’s? I know, it’s not a popular topic in our society.  We pride ourselves in our ability to create a life that we want regardless of the history of our families. But is it possible that the history of our families may not just be in the past? Is it possible that that history may be alive in the energy of the present?
    What if life were to be easy and fun? Would I still be a member of my family that knew so much hard work? What if my income flowed from my creativity? Would that even be called work? Can I imagine the me who does what she wants to do and gets paid for it? What does that feel like in my body? And, as Richard Bach once queried, "What would I do, if God spoke directly to your face and said, 'I command that you be happy in the world as long as you live.' What would I do then?"
What would you do if your command was to be happy in your life? What would it take for you to be happy?