"Do all creatures have discernible essences that fabulists and myth-makers (and later children’s authors and animators) agree upon?"
This spring-boarded me into layers upon layers of reading about animals in mythology.
It enriches life to observe wild animals. How wonderful that you can observe foxes on such a regular basis that you get to know them and their behaviors!
The closest we have to that here is a group of turtles that come to sun every day. They gather at exactly the same spot by the pond, and one by one they arrive and begin the important process of sunning and resting and staying still. My husband and I call it "Turtle alert!" and we spend quite a lot of time telling each other how many turtles are out there at any given time, and what they're up to!
Such a beautiful piece of writing, Tom. I love that paragraph where you describe the soothing benefits of watching animals. It reminded me of a day last week where I was in my own head about some work and then during a walk in the park with my wife, we got lost in the moment watching this giant snail. I definitely felt sufficiently soothed and at peace afterwards.
Anthropomorphism is indeed a funny thing. Dolphins likewise have a fun position in the animal world with which to play, like foxes of the sea (with a bit more brutality to them haha).
Try Hunter's Moon by Garry Kilworth - good book. Ripple by Tui Allen is also a fave.
Watching and noticing the ordinary extraordinary beauty of nature, and especially animals, is a sure fire way to reconnect with the Divine. Superbly written.
Thank you. I read somewhere that having a pet dog extends your lifespan by several years. I believe it. And I think observing nature and animals deeply is a great balm for the soul.
There is a theory of consciousness I read somewhere that we all are somewhere on a "scale" of consciousness with apathy, grief, guilt, anger on the "low" end and reason, courage, love, and joy on the high end. And that the "vibrational energy" of the higher levels offsets and overpowers the lower levels. I'm not saying I totally believe it, however, the point for this discussion is the guy said that pets calibrated at the level of "unconditional love" and that just having a pet offset all those more negative levels and that's why people with pets generally are safer, happier and live longer. Maybe snake oil, but it was an interesting thought.
I believe it. With any kind of scale like that you are going to have quibbles about specifics but directionally at least it seems to hold some real insight. And this Dr Hawkins guy (who appeared to be an actual doctor) behind it didn’t seem to have anything to upsell, as far as I can see. These are all good signs in my book.
"Do all creatures have discernible essences that fabulists and myth-makers (and later children’s authors and animators) agree upon?"
This spring-boarded me into layers upon layers of reading about animals in mythology.
It enriches life to observe wild animals. How wonderful that you can observe foxes on such a regular basis that you get to know them and their behaviors!
The closest we have to that here is a group of turtles that come to sun every day. They gather at exactly the same spot by the pond, and one by one they arrive and begin the important process of sunning and resting and staying still. My husband and I call it "Turtle alert!" and we spend quite a lot of time telling each other how many turtles are out there at any given time, and what they're up to!
‘Turtle alert!’ sounds like the exact equivalent to what I have going on with the foxes.
‘Shh, there they are. Look. Look. Ha.’
Such a beautiful piece of writing, Tom. I love that paragraph where you describe the soothing benefits of watching animals. It reminded me of a day last week where I was in my own head about some work and then during a walk in the park with my wife, we got lost in the moment watching this giant snail. I definitely felt sufficiently soothed and at peace afterwards.
It seems any animal will bring on this effect- I've watched pigeons, ants, earthworms, finches etc etc and had similar experiences.
Anthropomorphism is indeed a funny thing. Dolphins likewise have a fun position in the animal world with which to play, like foxes of the sea (with a bit more brutality to them haha).
Try Hunter's Moon by Garry Kilworth - good book. Ripple by Tui Allen is also a fave.
"Ironmongery". Goodness. Great job.
Thanks, David. Yet more books to add to the never-ending list. Such is life (but in a good way)
Watching and noticing the ordinary extraordinary beauty of nature, and especially animals, is a sure fire way to reconnect with the Divine. Superbly written.
Thank you. I read somewhere that having a pet dog extends your lifespan by several years. I believe it. And I think observing nature and animals deeply is a great balm for the soul.
There is a theory of consciousness I read somewhere that we all are somewhere on a "scale" of consciousness with apathy, grief, guilt, anger on the "low" end and reason, courage, love, and joy on the high end. And that the "vibrational energy" of the higher levels offsets and overpowers the lower levels. I'm not saying I totally believe it, however, the point for this discussion is the guy said that pets calibrated at the level of "unconditional love" and that just having a pet offset all those more negative levels and that's why people with pets generally are safer, happier and live longer. Maybe snake oil, but it was an interesting thought.
I believe it. With any kind of scale like that you are going to have quibbles about specifics but directionally at least it seems to hold some real insight. And this Dr Hawkins guy (who appeared to be an actual doctor) behind it didn’t seem to have anything to upsell, as far as I can see. These are all good signs in my book.
Beautiful observations
Thank you.
You're lucky to see them gambol.
Mostly they laze around but sometimes you get to see them playfight.