Today while running on my usual path through the natural world behind my house…my world of wild raspberries in the summer, cardinals on my deck, hawks flying above my house, mushrooms growing in hidden spots…I heard the sound of two birds calling to one another. I could hear the back and forth communication and it was so clear with an urgent nature to it that it had me stopping, listening and trying to locate the source. It is not at all unusual for me to listen and look around with wonder as I run on my familiar path, but this time I was experiencing something I hadn’t been a part of before.
It sounded like the call of owls and I wished to locate where the call was coming from. I stood still and listened to all that was happening around me…another group of birds was high in the trees too. Two on the tree seemed to be engaged in what reminded me of life in my middle school classroom and the continued efforts to decenter and see our needs in context with our community. The two birds were making big screeching sounds and flapping their wings wildly as they took turns knocking each other off the same tree branch. Their antics had me giggling, reflecting and recognizing that life in all forms struggles at times with similar challenges.
I kept listening too for the sounds of the owls and looking everywhere to try to locate where they were. Just as I almost moved on with my run, out came the most beautiful owl to the right of me, high up in the trees. He saw me too. I saw him see me and change his path. I think he was planning to fly across to where the other owl was, but when he saw me, he flew to a nearby tree where he was hidden from sight. I felt like the luckiest person alive to have been able to see him and could hardly grasp how directly I felt the moment we saw each other and his eyes connected with mine. I don’t remember having that experience before and it felt profound. It changed my mood. I had gone on my run to lighten my mood. It had been a stressful day with a familiar challenge that I had been sorting through at school and I was trying to run to let go and gain new perspective. I held onto that moment of seeing the owl, not really understanding it, but feeling it’s importance.
Today, I am listening to Gabriel Kram tell the story of the San People of the Kalahari Desert and describing their belief that the moment you recognize an individual animal, an invisible connection, an energetic thread, comes between you and I know this is what I experienced. The San people say that the more times you see the same animal, the thread grows, just as when you start loving someone, you start feeling with them. I don’t know if I will see the owl again, but many say that seeing an owl symbolizes intuition, wisdom, silence, observation, quick wit, independence and power, intelligence and protection. All of the things I am growing in myself and messages I need to work through the experiences I’m having at work. The owl has the ability to see in the dark as it is endowed with the energies of the moon and the night….I have been journeying to higher consciousness and so I have more perspective than I once did. This morning I am again grateful to the owl and his reminder of the gifts I have and with this connection, I have the clarity to respond to my work situation with integrity. I feel the clarity of who I am and the response comes to me.