Grounded Freedom

I want to share every shred of happiness I feel in this world.

photo courtesy La Abeja Herbs

The thing that has always enchanted me and driven me crazy about animals is that we cannot speak the same language. This truth I’ve always felt to be such a curse upon me, however, is not so accepted amoung many animal-people. These are those humans who strive for complete harmony with animals, so there is no separation from their thoughts. It may sound crazy, but I have seen how the synchronization results in a pure reflection where the actions and course of direction in the human is precisely mirrored by the animal. There’s a reason why we call work with animals that requires their collaboration with our actions “horse-man-ship” or “dog-man-ship” or more broadly, “animal-man-ship”, because the work is a demonstration of man and animal going on a journey together. And what really never ceases to amaze me is that when man and animal are in tune like this, they know exactly where the other is going as though they’re speaking the same language.

 

When I’m astride animals, running around and connecting deeper with the earth, I feel the whole world beating in unison with my heart. I once heard a famed herbalist recall a story of a wise King who was asked by a man, if he could possess any skill or treasure in the world he could possibly want, what it would be. The King answered to the man, “The ability to speak the language of animals, so that I may know their secrets to healing.”

I want to share my knowledge of healing with animals in need, but I have a strong intuition that tells me they already know exactly how to best heal themselves. I will restate the interdependence of humans and animals again and again because it means in most cases that animals do not have the freedom or access to medicine they would naturally seek without our allowance or taking them to the vet. And more often than not, even when we take them to the vet, they are not getting the medicine their body would best respond to. In no way am I saying that vet hospitals are a part of the problem, rather than the solution because they are responsible for saving millions of animals lives. Simply, the point I am getting at is that left to their own natural urges, unrestrained by us, animals will find the medicine they need because they have a stronger connection and understanding of Nature than humans do. That is why animals are such amazing healing influences for us. However animals do depend on us to realize full health, wild or domesticated. Our interconnectedness and the consequences of our actions have farther reaching implications than we realize.

When I think of being grounded, rather than being a punishment for freespirited, rebellious teenagers, I think of a realistic path for us to walk. Freespirits who feel they should not be bounded to any rules or restrictions surely could use some down to earth grounding. But when we see it as a restriction, we forget to see all of the freedom inherent within being grounded. Grounded freedom is seeing the suffering and pain in the world without pity or regret and welcoming it into your arms because you are only faced with what you can handle. It is embodying reality so fully that you can sense what is wanting to happen and what we wish would happen, and can then choose to follow the path of least resistance. Being grounded is knowing what our gifts are and being free is having the ability to share them with the world. Animals connect with us from this place, and all they ask is that we meet them there.