One of the cool things about language is how many different meanings words can have. One word can have multiple meanings on its own, but then, when you factor in how different people can interpret the definition of a word, it adds to the number of meanings a word can have. There are technical words to describe all this and I could expand on this forever, but at the risk of sounding nerdier than I already am, I am going to stop there.
When I was in Peru, we heard a lecture called “Cosmovisión Andean.” That just means we learned about the world view of the Andean people. The whole lecture was incredibly interesting, but there was one thing that really stood out to me.
The word “ayllu.”
In Quechua (the Incan language), ayllu kind of means family, but it goes so much deeper than that. It is not limited to blood relatives. Someone’s ayllu is their community, their people that support them and love them unconditionally. They help each other through hard times and celebrate with them during the good times.
Ideally, it is what family should be, but that isn’t what family means anymore. The problem with one word having so many meanings is that it can lose all meaning.
Family (n): a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children
Seems simple and straightforward, right?
The thing is, everyone’s experience with their family is different, meaning everyone’s take on the definition of family is different. On one hand, it can mean two loving parents, siblings, a house full of food, and anything else they could possibly need or want. On the other hand, it can mean abuse, hunger, and/or loneliness. Those are extremes, but you get my point. Most people fall somewhere in the middle.
Then there’s the whole concept of having friends that are as close (or closer) than family.
There’s so many possibilities in a little six letter word. It’s hard to pinpoint one definition without any elaboration.
The word “ayllu” carries much more weight than the word “family” does. Part of that is from the way the different cultures treat language, but I think there is something to be learned from it.
Words are thrown around carelessly without putting any attention on what is being said. We call people our family, but we don’t treat them like it.
Our words have power. We diminish their power by not following through with our actions.
Family is important, whether your family is blood related or not, everyone needs someone who will always be in their corner no matter what. We all have that responsibility for someone, but how can we expect others to take that responsibility seriously and follow through on it, if we don’t do the same for them?