Author Archives: Taylor Woods

The Floor is Lava

Story: Me and my siblings used to play this game when we were little called The Floor is Lava. We would put all of the couch cushions on the floor in the living room, and run and jump from them to the couch to the ottoman, to the chair, and keep doing that until someone touched the floor. If you touched the floor you died, and someone would usually be chasing us- either fictionally or my dad would and we would run and sometimes trip into the lava. It was really fun!

Context: The informant told me this over Zoom, and I recorded it so I could write it down later.

Thoughts: Looking back on it, the informant says that it was a great way to bond with their siblings and father, and that some of their favorite times were just leaping in small circles in their living room. They also said that they have heard a lot of other people played that game as well, and are surprised since they don’t believe they learned it from anyone.

Analysis: I think this game is a really great example of a study I reference in another entry, about children and imaginative play. It is a big help with boosting social awareness, empathy, and creativity. It makes sense that a lot of children would develop a similar game since it also utilizes motor skills, and plays heavily into the countless imagination possibilities for a toddler/younger kid.

Athanasios Diakos

Story: My great, great grandfather, George, was born in the village Athanasios Diakos – I have no idea how to spell that, you can look it up later. The village, Athanasios Diakos, was named after a very famous Greek war hero in the war against the Ottoman Empire – who had invaded Greece and had been occ- *coughs* – occupying it for almost 400 years by that time. He fought heroic battles against them with a very small group of freedom fighters, until he got captured captured them them. He was impaled and burnt to death on a spit. When he was captured, he was offered a chance to live and be made an officer in the Ottoman army but he had to denounce his Christianity and converting to Islam! Instead he said: “I was born a Greek, I will die a Greek”!*informant yells and lifts fist* His brutal death is said to have been the rallying point for all Greeks who fought tooth and nail against the Ottoman army and, although vastly outnumbered, ended up driving them out of the country.

Format: The informant told these to me in person, and I recorded them to better transcribe them later.

Context: The informant was told these stories by his father, who was handed down these stories from his father, who was told some of these stories by his father. They are stories about the informant’s great great grandfather, George, and the village he is from. When asked about why this story is significant to them, the informant responded saying that this was told to them ‘hundreds of times’ over the course of their childhood. They would always ask for the story to be told before bed, and it was always a little bit different every time.

Analysis: This legend is super intriguing to me as a writer, because it is both a story about tragedy and victory. It has true roots in history, as Athanasios Diakos was in fact a Greek military commander during the Greek War of Independence. However, there are details in the story, like the manner in which he died, that I have not been able to find online.

Diwali

Story: This story is about how my family celebrates the festival of Diwali which is the Hindi new year. We do this puuja which is like a ritualistic prayer, to this goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. She is a really powerful goddess and is associated with the new year because of that, and so we do these puujas in all of my parent’s offices since it is usually done in the workplace, and the people who my parents work with. We do that kind of a celebration and like we always go to the same restaurant and eat out after all of it to celebrate the new year. It’s also the same time everyone gets bonuses and stuff, so everyone is really happy. After all of that, people set off firecrackers as well.

Thoughts: The informant feels as if this is significant because though their family is Hindu, they don’t really do rituals very often – with the exceptions of Holi and Diwali and a few others. So it ended up being one of the few days their whole family got together and prayed, which is not something they do often. The spirit of the holiday is also very important to them.

Context: The context of this performance was over the phone, and I recorded the informant talking about their own folklore.

Analysis: I really enjoyed learning about this new part of my friend and their family. I had never known that they celebrated Diwali and in the way they did. I thought it was interesting that they always eat out at the same restaurant. It almost seems like a token for good luck or a way of avoiding bad luck, which would go along with the tendency of hoping and praying for good fortune or wealth.