Saturday morning the kids were outside shortly before 9 am getting ready to run errands with dad. Little half pint spots a blue jay flying by, and then suddenly... they see this fine fellow sitting in the tree right outside our door. We all felt awed at the sight of him. Gorgeous.
After reveling in him a bit we all went on our ways... Hub and the kiddos all on errands, myself back to the house for cleaning. But I couldn't help thinking about this owl as I went about my morning. Humbled to realize that animal eyes are watching us even when we don't look up. Or down. And I felt honored... as if Owl Spirit was with us in this house. And that seems good and right.
He stayed...and stayed. I kept going to "check" on this one... wondering when he last ate (we have heaps of snow keeping all the mice safely underground), if he was sleeping, if he was cold... (it was below zero this day). I was struck with his patience. He sat, unmoved by the crows constant harassment, unmoved by the gusts of wind, or that odd lady who kept coming out to look at him. He just sat. Watching. Being.
Sometimes as I walk by my back door, my cat Chocolate is sitting on the porch calmly, serenely looking at the door. When I see her, and she sees me, her posture seems to lengthen-- as if to say, "I knew you would come." I always wonder how long she has been sitting there unmoved and patient. Watching. Being.
There is a sense of wisdom that spoke to me through these animals. A yearning rises up in me. I hear their message. Sit. Watch. Be.
My meditation teacher often spoke of the difference of Human Doings and Human Beings. I know it is true-- even when I sit down at home, I am doing-- reading, talking, eating, contemplating... or worse getting online! When I get out of the habit of sitting meditation I really feel it on a deep level. Sitting connects me to that deeper part within me, the part that holds my inner wisdom, my higher self. When I sit daily I am able to access that deeper, inner, higher part of myself more readily as I go on to my day to day life. It manages to muffle the mindless chatter that makes up our modern world, just a bit for me.
I have been out of practice. But Owl helped me remember.
Wisdom from Piglet:
" 'There's Pooh', Piglet thought to himself. 'Pooh hasn't much Brain, but he never comes to any harm. He does silly things and they come out right. There's Owl. Owl hasn't exactly got Brain, but he Knows Things. He would know the Right Thing to Do when Surrounded by Water. There's Rabbit. He hasn't Learnt in Books, but he can always Think of a Clever Plan. There's Kanga. She isn't Clever, Kanga isn't, but she would be so anxious about Roo that she would do a Good Thing to Do without thinking about it. And then there is Eeyore. And Eeyore is so miserable anyhow that he wouldn't mind about this. But I wonder what Christopher Robin would do?' "
My favorite children's book about Owls:
And my favorite book to study birds (Owls included):
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