‘Sometimes it’s blood memory… not the blood your mother and father gave you… but that which stretches back two or three thousand years.’ — Martha Graham

Let’s switch gears. I want to share a fresh theory with you, something I’ve been thinking about for quite some time.

The message is in the telling as much as what is being told. The energy behind the idea is critical, that is the common languages here, as you may see. So let me set the table. I want to share a typical exchange between a friend and myself. The twist in the following scenario is you are here, placed in the friend role, taking part in the discussion. Yes?

Here we go.

We’re sitting outside a cafe, our drinks just arrived. We’re on a corner lined with trees. The leaves are just turning and making shaded shapes dance in choreographed moves, floating up, sideways and lightly to the ground, the firmness indifferent for the gift or thankful for the richness, as is the tree housed neatly, concrete surrounding.

You realize this moment still harnesses the power to steal your attention as you continue staring at the leaf on the ground, a new one landed, and glance up again to see the dance pepper it’s continuity.

Then the wind whispers again as it gently gusts like past lives in secessions.

You finally notice I’m smiling, looking directly into your eyes with a mysterious glow. It’s a welcome warmth on this autumn day, you think now looking back with a question on your face. These moments are as real and authentic as the coming winter, but as hopeful as our shared spring. It will come, certainly.

“What a beautiful day, the air is fresh” says a woman a few tables down. You smile back at me and adjust yourself to a new comfort. The cue.

I begin, “Congratulations, you might leave one of the most powerful DNA Memories in our human history, a dramatic and positive evolutionary change of direction to more sustainable ways of living.”

You smirk at me. And I smirk back and continue.

“Follow me. You, and all human life as it is right now — from global leaders to the homeless and helpless, we are all the strongest. But don’t get me wrong, the strongest doesn’t automatically mean the best. DNA lines die off all the time and quickly. Species of animals, plants, languages and cultures have disappeared and continue to at a scary rate. So, luckiest might be a better word.”

New people arrive in the mellow but full, buzzing cafe and choose a table near us. I acknowledge they need an extra chair, and offer ours. We have a brief pleasant exchange, and then we’re focused again.

“OK, keep what I just said in mind and now think about how many times you heard someone say, ‘It’s in my blood’ — well those people may have instinctively known a hidden truth. The good, bad and the ugly. That which goes beyond the color of our skin or eyes.

Our blood is flowing in pathways up and down our bodies at this moment, informing us about that story we cannot tell ourselves otherwise, for there is no common language other than the passing of information through energy.

Have you seen the movie, Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind?”

You nod your head up-and-down, interested where this might lead.

“Cool, then you know it’s about a couple that break-up and are so devastated by the memory of their past love, they make the grave choice to erase the memory. The ending reveals the truth; that memory is not only in our minds. The lasting, stored memory becomes a part of us, branded in our DNA, literally, and beyond the matter of the mind.”

“Has that been proven in the real world?” you asked.

“Yeah, so much so companies are banking on it. A biotech company named Genetech based out of San Francisco is developing what they call DR6 Blockers, drugs to block memories. Their technique could, as they say, ‘Sharpen minds by helping them to selectively erase traumatic and distracting thoughts.”

You interrupt with a joke that makes us both laugh, “That is about as scary as Jim Carey”, after you add, “but he wasn’t so bad in ‘Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind’ Michel Gondry must have toned him down.”

“True… And like any good movie, I suppose a lesson can be learned.”

“Go on…” I hear you murmur above a sip, reminding me to enjoy my drink as well.

“It comes down to the emergence of epigenetic research. Scientists have learned that while DNA remains the basic text of life, the script is often controlled by stage directions embedded in a layer of biochemical’s that roughly speaking, sit on top of the DNA.”

“OK, don’t get too technical on me!” you tease.

“This is important,” I answer. We sip in unison this time.

“Epigenetic changes seems to leave a chemical flag or mark on the DNA, hence researchers are intensely cataloging these marks “epigenomes” as possible clues for diagnosis, prognosis and perhaps prevention of disease.

The well known Watson and Crick concept of DNA inheritance, is only one part of the story, epigenetics could be even more responsible for gene expression.”

I sense you want to continue to the point when you quickly blurt out.

“So you’re saying our DNA Memory shaped who we are, and that every thing we do and say, eat or drink, the atmosphere and environments in which we live and breath, entertain or struggle — that what we think and how we feel — all of this is branded into our DNA Memory, for better or worse. Right?”

It’s been years since I first discussed this idea with you. Now more than ever you see where this is going and are pleased to be able to state it clearly, beat me to the punch line. However this time there is more.

“Yes.” I say and move to the point, “Which means in my mind a couple things 1) Does it make sense for us to research and understand our family history so that we can polish the positives and work to smooth over those rougher edges, or to say a different way 2) If we’re able to harness this knowledge with the ability to change ourselves for the positive or benefit of all involved, and this becomes adopted by our friends and family, can we leave a more enlightened way of life for our children?

And before you answer that, there is more. It may be something we already know but worth mentioning again and in this fresh context. We are who we are, randomly. Our gifts and burdens come down to luck. Our DNA is shuffled from one birth to the next.

Just as probability played a role in the huge upheaval in physics in the early 20th century, when in 1926 Erwin Schrodinger declared that an atom isn’t anything like a tiny solar system, and that electrons, unlike planets, are best described in terms of the likelihood of their appearing at all, it turns out our genes are the same way, randomly turned on and off for unknown reasons”

“Pure luck, huh?” Then you add, “Speaking of random, did you hear that DNA experts say we all have African origins?”

My face lights up with this question, and I respond.

“Yeah. Every single person on this beautiful earth is connected so when I ask ‘Can we make positive changes for the benefit of all involved?’ I’m thinking both immediately and broadly. It’s clear more than ever that we’re simply bi-products of our natural evolutionary response to migration and geography, but at our core, we are the same. Special in our own ways, sure, but no one is better than the other when you look at the big picture.”

A slight breeze activates our surrounding area, forcing some to hold on to napkins and momentarily reminding the people outside of something beyond their conversations, reading, thinking, typing. The end of Bob Dylan’s song ‘Maggie’s Farm’ is heard softly from the outdoor speakers, then transitions to Devo’s ‘Freedom of Choice’.

You cock your head at me, and say, “That is a nice thought and all, but I’m not so sure how it’s possible to achieve — at least in our lifetime.” you exclaim, then follow-up with the question, “Do you really believe this?”

“Evolution is proven to take lifetimes, right? But what if understanding our DNA Memory could help us – for the first time really, and today — manage our evolution rather than inadvertently being affected by it?” I respond earnestly.

We look at each other for a bit, and you finally say, “OK, it’s interesting… a lot of the information we’re learning lately makes me think like we’re moving into a global paradigm shift, but then again, we’ve thought that for many years now…”

We’re silent. You’re looking at me as I stare at the leaves that seem to be falling faster. I am lost in thought, then finally say.

“I’m leaving in less than a month.”

“Where you going?” you respond, sensing something out of the norm.

“On a discovery.” I pause again, then look back with a hopeful smile.

“To write a book about my DNA Memory”

XXX

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Credit:
Intelligent Life / The Economist (Summer 2009)
Newsweek (July 6-July 13 2009)

Photo Credit: Lego.com