After finishing the assigned reading for this week, I discovered that my preconceived notions about spirit animals were a little off base. I was surprised to learn that by discovering and learning about your spirit animal you can also learn more about yourself. As Ted Andrews put it, "As you begin to identify and recognize your animal totems, you will begin to understand your life more effectively," he also says, " You will find yourself filled with new inspiration, and you will find yourself more creative within your life. The more you understand your totem, the more you will understand yourself"(pg. 114). Previously, when I thought about totem animals, I thought they were just animals that you shared similar characteristics or qualities with. Now I realize that they are much more than that. A totem animal is actually, "any natural object, animal, or being to whose phenomena and energy you feel closely associated with during your life"(pg. 113). Your totem animal is something that you feel a strong connection to, something that connects you to nature and the human spirit. Another concept that I found intriguing was the fact that, "you don't necessarily choose your spirit animal- you and your animal choose each other" (pg. 121). The act of just being peaceful and meditating and letting your spirit animal come to you is not how I viewed the process. I am the kind of person who is always busy and on the go, so to think about slowing down and letting my spirit animal find me is a hard concept to grasp. However, I now know from the reading that I cannot just pick whatever animal I think suits me best. I have to take time to get back to nature and allow my spirit animal to find me. Some advice that I hope will prove very helpful in helping me discover my animal is, "Meditation takes practice, but it's extremely rewarding. There are as many ways to meet your spirit animal guide as there are animals in the wild" (pg. 122). This was comforting to me because, as I stated earlier, meditation is not an easy thing for me. Finding my spirit animal may be harder than I though but I expect it to be a rewarding and enriching experience. Anything that brings me down out of the stress of the day and back to nature sounds like a good experience to me.
After finishing the assigned reading for this week, I discovered that my preconceived notions about spirit animals were a little off base. I was surprised to learn that by discovering and learning about your spirit animal you can also learn more about yourself. As Ted Andrews put it, "As you begin to identify and recognize your animal totems, you will begin to understand your life more effectively," he also says, " You will find yourself filled with new inspiration, and you will find yourself more creative within your life. The more you understand your totem, the more you will understand yourself"(pg. 114). Previously, when I thought about totem animals, I thought they were just animals that you shared similar characteristics or qualities with. Now I realize that they are much more than that. A totem animal is actually, "any natural object, animal, or being to whose phenomena and energy you feel closely associated with during your life"(pg. 113). Your totem animal is something that you feel a strong connection to, something that connects you to nature and the human spirit. Another concept that I found intriguing was the fact that, "you don't necessarily choose your spirit animal- you and your animal choose each other" (pg. 121). The act of just being peaceful and meditating and letting your spirit animal come to you is not how I viewed the process. I am the kind of person who is always busy and on the go, so to think about slowing down and letting my spirit animal find me is a hard concept to grasp. However, I now know from the reading that I cannot just pick whatever animal I think suits me best. I have to take time to get back to nature and allow my spirit animal to find me. Some advice that I hope will prove very helpful in helping me discover my animal is, "Meditation takes practice, but it's extremely rewarding. There are as many ways to meet your spirit animal guide as there are animals in the wild" (pg. 122). This was comforting to me because, as I stated earlier, meditation is not an easy thing for me. Finding my spirit animal may be harder than I though but I expect it to be a rewarding and enriching experience. Anything that brings me down out of the stress of the day and back to nature sounds like a good experience to me.
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