Procrastination proverb

Nationality: Irish
Age: 56
Occupation: Lawyer/Screenwriter
Residence: Los Angeles
Primary Language: English

The informant is my mother who is Irish and she grew up in Buffalo, New York. She always used to tell me this proverb growing up and still says this to me today.

 

“Your tomorrow self will thank your today self.”

 

I have never heard this proverb before and she is really the only person I have ever heard say it. My mother said her Irish grandmother would say it to her growing up. Upon further research I could not find where the proverb originated from, but I kept finding this:

“Do something today that your future self will thank you for.”

 

Which has the same sentiment and was apparently originally said by Sean Patrick Flanery who is also Irish.

If this is an Irish proverb, it tells me that the culture is very efficient and very in the now. I think American world view is very much future oriented and we put things off, but this proverb encourages people to do things now so you don’t have to think about it in the future.

 

For another version of this proverb see “Jane Two,” written by Sean Patrick Flanery.

 

The Irish Man and His Three Sons: The Priest, Doctor and Lawyer

Nationality: Irish
Age: 56
Occupation: Lawyer/screenwirter
Residence: Los Angeles
Primary Language: English

The informant is my mother who is Irish. Her grandparents were both from County Clare Ireland, which at the time was a town of only around 50,000 people. They had not met until they both immigrated to New York. My mother spent a lot of time with her grandparents when she was growing up in Buffalo New York and this is a story of an Irish folktale they used to tell her.

 

“A poor man had three sons and he wanted to make sure his sons were successful and had money. So the father decides to sell himself to the devil to get money for his children to go to school.  The Devil gave him the money to pay for their education and one child was to become a priest, the other a doctor and the third one a lawyer.

 

After the children finished their education the devil came to take the father to hell. When the devil arrived, one of the father’s sons was there with him. It was the priest. The priest began to pray in hopes that the Devil would spare his father, and in the end, the Devil gave in and gave the old father a few years more to live.

 

Eventually the Devil came again, but this time the doctor was there and he appealed to the Devil to spare the old man, and to everyone’s surprise, the Devil gave him a few more years to live.

 

Finally, the Devil came the third time to claim the old man, the lawyer was there. The lawyer says to the Devil: “You have spared my father two times already, and I do not expect you to do it again. But will you let him live until that candle has burnt down?” He gestured to the burning candle that was burning on the table. The Devil agreed because it was nearly burnt to the end and he knew the candle would burn down soon.

 

Once the Devil agreed the lawyer picked up the candle butt, blew it out and put it in his pocket. And stuck to his word, the devil left emptyhanded.”

 

This story to me tells me a lot about my great grandparents and what Ireland’s worldview is. It shows that being a lawyer is better respected than even a priest and it also shows the fear of the devil. My mother is now a lawyer and I think that this is very interesting because clearly being a lawyer is seen as something very important.

Aboriginal Myth about “Dreamtime.”

Nationality: Australian
Age: 19
Occupation: Social Media
Residence: Australia/ Los Angeles
Primary Language: English

The informant is my friend (referred to as CM) who is Australian. She is 20 years old and grew up in Brisbane Australia and lives in Sydney now and has moved to Byron Bay. I was enquiring about the Aboriginal people and if she knew any stories. Below she discusses an Aboriginal myth about “Dreamtime.”

 

CM: “Yeah the Aboriginal people are so beautiful. They’re not as much in Brisbane or Sydney but in places like New South Wales and Queensland. Yeah growing up my best friend was Aboriginal and her mother would always tell me about the belief system of the ‘Dreamtime.’ She would say that the earth was created by all of these spiritual beings who physically were the land and sea and the animals on the earth. Everything that was in the natural world was kind of like, a representation of the spiritual aspect of the world. Dreaming exists before you’re born and after you die.  Your spirit or I guess dream spirit, exists when you can’t humanly perceive it. A lot of aboriginal myths and stories are just so beautiful, but there is still a lot of racism and hate. They’re the oldest people on Earth. They know so much.”

 

I have been to Australia three times myself now and I think that this is such an interesting concept expressed by the aboriginal people I have found that mainstream Australian culture is deeply rooted in spirituality. Along the streets of Byron Bay and Sydney, there are crystal stores, dream catchers, tarot decks and so many “spiritual” healing objects that I find it so surprising that the aboriginals are actually treated so horribly and disregarded. So much of the Australian spirituality culture is rooted in this idea of the Dreamtime, and I definitely see that in all of my Australian friends.

Persian New Year

Nationality: Persian
Age: 50-60
Occupation: Uber driver
Residence: Los Angeles
Primary Language: Arabic
Language: English

The informant was an uber driver, Amir I had who was Persian. I was taking an uber and it was the day before Persian New Year, which I did not know until he mentioned it. It was an extremely sunny and beautiful day and while we were making small talk about the weather he started talking about the Persian New Year. Below is our conversation where he tells me about the importance of the blooming flowers and of Persian New Year traditions.

 

Amir: “No one wants to work today- it is spring.”

 

CI: “Yes, the weather is so beautiful!”

 

Amir: “Yes and in my community, it is the New Year.”

 

CI: “Oh really? What community?”

 

Amir: “I am Persian. Tomorrow is the Persian new year. As you can see the flowers growing on the side of the road show new life.”

 

CI: “Wow, so what do you do for Persian New Year?”

 

Amir: “Well first, no one work. Tomorrow is the big celebration. Family and friends come over and we celebrate. We have a table set for everyone.”

 

CI: “Really? What types of food do you eat?”

 

Amir: “We eat at a restaurant, but we set out table to show spring has come. We put the lentils out to show rebirth and we put the dried fruit to show love and apple and vinegar and other things.”

CI: “Okay so you set the table with items but you don’t eat them?”

Amir: “No we go out to eat at Persian restaurant and have kebab and meat”

This was such a great interaction and I also don’t know if it would have occurred if it hadn’t been nice weather outside. It seems as if the celebration of Persian new year is greatly linked to the rebirth with spring and therefore the weather is a huge part of the day. I wondered if the weather was not as nice out if the holiday would be the same. Small talk about weather can inform people about very interesting traditions!
 

Italian Easter

Nationality: Italian
Age: 56
Occupation: Lawyer
Residence: Los Angeles
Primary Language: English

The informant is my father (referred to as FI) who is raised by two Italian parents and was raised in a very traditional Italian household. His parents have been married for 60 years and knew each other in their Italian towns since they were age 10. Easter is a big deal in Italian culture because it is a Catholic holiday.

 

FI: “Easter is, similarly to Christmas, more of week-long celebration than a one day holiday. All of Italy is very involved in events that occur that week. The Pope is out and about leading up to Easter.

On Easter Sunday people dress in green and white. Green and white are two of Italy’s colors but also I think it represents peace, hope, and resurrection. On Easter Sunday there is a lot of food, but also the traditional candies that we eat in America are not eaten. It’s not as much about Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies. I know doves are also released during this time and then everyone heads to church. Sunday mass is a huge part of Easter Sunday.”

I found this to be particularly interesting that these were the traditions my father grew up with because they were definitely not carried down to me/ his children. When I was growing up, Easter was all about the chocolate bunnies and Easter eggs and we rarely went to church. Despite the fact that my father grew up in a traditionally Catholic Italian home, I feel that we were not given a lot of those same traditions because he actually no longer identifies as Catholic. I believe that also now holidays are so commercialized, especially in the United States, so it is hard to celebrate them with many real traditions that aren’t centered around religious ideas or food.