~HEALING IS REVEALING WHO I AM~
~HEALING IS RECEIVING WHO YOU ARE~
~Healing leads to an awareness that we are one~
Thoughts from another day at the ranch…………….
Today as I approached Harmony’s herd, I was amazed to see at least 30 elk mingling within and all around her herd. Some of the elk were grazing right next to horses, some were actually lying down and there were some very young elk that looked like they were napping in a grove of trees quite near the herd.
As soon as some of the elk saw me, they took an “alert posture” and then other elk stood and took this same alert posture and some started walking away.
I immediately sat down and looked down. This posture I took seemed to “calm” them down. They relaxed their alert pose and went back to grazing.
I sat there for several minutes just allowing myself to feel blessed by this scene. My horse has been at this 1000 acre ranch for seven years and though I have seen the herd of elk pass through the herd, stopping for a bit at times, I have never seen them truly be together and appear as one herd.
Though I tried not to think about this while I was with them, I did have a flood of thoughts afterward.
The first thought was how “un-one”, we humans are. Though we are one species, we act as if we are as opposite as bears and lions. (Note: I am thinking of two predator species.)
The current political climate is tearing us apart in every way.
Some days, I wonder if we will make it; whether we will survive as a species.
I get hopeful though, when I am able to see horses and elk, who supposedly do not have a higher brain, spend time together in perfect harmony.
Horses and Elk are 2 types of prey animals. Many say that this means they are afraid. Actually, I have learned as a result of spending so much time with Harmony and her herd, that being a prey animal makes one a relationship master. Prey animals know that there safety lies in being connected to the herd. They instinctually know that if they are separated from their herd, they are at risk of dying.
I want to say this again, these prey animals are relationship masters because they know it is their place within the herd that gives them the most safety and protection. They know how to communicate with each other in a split second. Think of what I said when I told you how they took an “alert posture” when they saw me. Within 3 seconds, 10 elk had responded to my presence. Then when I sat down, and no longer looked as if I would harm them, they also relaxed.
What if we humans acted like this herd of elk? What if we did remain alert and quiet when a stranger appeared but what if we chose to look, and see if there was true danger before we acted? What if we decided to pause, to be vulnerable and to truly look with our inner knowing before acting? Our inner knowing would tell us that we are actually not a threat to one another.
In my neighborhood, we are experiencing some of this oneness. Though there is much diversity on all levels in our neighborhood, there is a commitment to keep the things that separate us out of our communications. And, this is working. We are finding our commonalities. We are living together as one herd and in harmony. We help each other, we look out for one another, and we celebrate in times of Joy and empathize in times of loss. We are being vulnerable with one another at appropriate levels. We are in fact revealing who we are in a safe way. We are accepting one another’s differences and these ways of revealing and accepting, we are in fact living in harmony and this very fact gives me great hope.