When the boys were little, they loved to talk about spirit animals. I have no idea how it started, but it’s one of my favorite sources of interesting thoughts and questions. Plus I felt especially prepared when I was sipping wine at an afternoon winery work function and a colleague leaned over and asked, “What’s your spirit animal?” And without missing a beat I casually replied, “Hummingbird… you?” And he replied, “Red-tailed hawk.” He’s a ginger.
So I’ve been quite steadfast about my spirit animal for many years. Until I started noticing other animals circling me.
One time I had a particularly stressful day at pandemic zoom work. I headed out to walk the loop and clear my head and Jesse found me. Jesse is our neighbor’s elderly black lab. She somehow walks to our house most days because she loves trucks and construction and tradies. She can’t hear anything… except my heart. She walked the entire loop with me that day– my sweet therapy dog.
Then after the great bonsai bunny mystery, my friend Arlene was convinced bunnies were my spirit animal. She was seeing them everywhere. She may be right. But in my typical style, I pointed out it was almost Easter.
Then one afternoon, I’m on the phone with Alesia and I look out to see a bobcat perched on the edge of the hill in the front yard. She was about the size of a spaniel. I’d forgotten about it until two Sundays ago… I’m doing laundry and Nate’s playing X-box and Jacob’s at the movies with Hollis. I come out of the laundry room and freeze. The bobcat is napping on the concrete patio next to my fig tree. She’s beautiful and relaxed and lulled to sleep by the constant monologue of Nate sitting on the floor playing Fortnite.
Someone recommends looking up the meaning of bobcat spirit animals and I find the following:
Bobcat symbolism and meanings include self-reliance, perception, moxie, stealth, friskiness, beauty, and affection. The bobcat spirit animal embodies the famous quote penned by Shakespeare: “This above all: to thine own self be true.” The bobcat reminds you that learning to trust yourself and to stand on your own two feet is an important part of your spiritual growth.
I also learn that there are spirit animals and totems and spirit guides. I like to think of her as our spirit guide. This past weekend I spent several hours chasing turkeys away from the doors. They keep coming up, fanning their feathers, strutting around, and then fighting themselves in the glass. ‘
Yeah, I’m pretty confident I don’t need to manifest more turkey energy in my life…
