Messages Beneath the Surface
As I was out hiking, I inquired as to what this week’s blog was to be and memories of some of my experiences with those I come across on my paths in nature, what is our innate inclination or response surfaces for understanding.
Three situations arose about what we come across, the way we interact with those whether these are human, animal, insect, those that reside in the water or something else on the journey, and the deeper messages. Each step brings us closer to understanding ourselves, our choices, and our roles in life a little bit more.
The first of these was an experience in Cottonwood, Arizona at the Dead Horse Ranch State Park with a green beetle that was crossing the path ahead of us. It appeared to be a little unstable, walking a bit off balanced.
I stopped to watch it for a moment before stooping to observe where it seemed to be heading. I positioned a piece of wood on the path to see if it would climb aboard so I could assist.
When it did, I tried moving it closer to where it appeared to be heading except when I put the wood back on the path it turned around to go in the opposite direction of where it just had been. It seemed that it was a journey that only it could walk and in its own time. After wishing it well, we too continued.
Its message:
There will be those that believe they know the path we are on
who want to help us, yet the path of our soul may be taking us a different way
for a different reason than what is on the surface.
The second being I came across while on a trail at Hassayampa River Preserve just south of downtown Wickenburg. This one was a fish laying just beyond the lake on an incline.
I did not know how it had gotten there as all was quiet when I arrived, yet I could tell it was breathing. It was injured and didn’t understand I was trying to assist it back into the water.
It felt my energy, but seemed to be in the state of whatever had occurred moments before I arrived that caused it to be where it was. As I moved toward it, it maneuvered its own body in a flip-flop movement closer to the lake periodically taking a rest. As I stepped forward once more, it moved the last few inches to return to its water home.
Its Message:
There are times on our path where we will feel like we are a fish out of water.
We don’t know where we are heading, how we got where we are, but if we wait a
moment someone will come along to move us in the right direction.
This past summer we had an influx of roof rats or what is more commonly known as black rats appearing in yards, garages, and near patios some in the search of water given the extremely dry, arid summer we experienced. The rat I saw wasn’t on a trail, but in a pet client’s backyard where three pups lived.
When I first came across it, I thought the puppy was taking me to it because it was dead. However, it in fact was still breathing, but not moving. The puppy wanted me to help it, so using the plastic bag as a glove I moved it to a high planter so it would be out of reach of the dogs, they out of its reach, and left it with some water.
Its Message:
Find ways to adapt or change how you are doing things in business,
otherwise you may soon be flat on your back and exhausted. Rats are
masters of survival through being continuously resourceful.
We all have choices in life, and we all get to choose the meaning we give certain experiences, emotions, animals, insects, or the people we encounter. We can see these beings as fellow travelers on a path of their own and as the messengers they can represent. Any time the thought of huh that’s interesting surfaces for me, there is usually a deeper meaning to glean from the experience.
