Portal to Freedom and Expanded Human Potential
Ashland Daily Tidings
October 24, 2014
Inner peace is a portal to freedom. It can be freedom from chaos and challenging circumstances; a commercial break from one’s life movie; a safe haven for quiet solitude as the calm eye in the midst of a brewing storm; a simple gift of sweetness for the mind/body/emotions/spirit to rest; a safe haven to observe life at a distance and gain healthy perspective.
Inner peace can also lay the foundation for peak communication with humans and animals where negative emotions have no place. Such is the experience I had 11 years ago in the wilderness with an opportunity to connect with a wildcat.
The following is an excerpt from my book launched this September, “The Grandma Boom Chronicles … More Alive at 65”:
“I went for a walk up the mountain. I walked up a steep incline on a dirt logging road and reached the small plateau at the top. I stopped, and there, not 15 yards in front of me, was a bobcat. It looked to be sniffing, hunting for food. He did not see me behind him. A lightning bolt of fear shot from my feet through my head. I was downwind, so he could not smell my fear.
“I knew I had to make a choice, and quickly. Either I could quietly back down the mountain, or I could stay and follow the wildcat. If I stayed, fear could play no part in this. I chose to stay and release my fear.
“Quietly, slowly, I bent to pick up a stick. They say that if a wild animal sees you waving a stick slowly above your head, it makes you appear larger than it. It was my safety stick. The bobcat started to walk away slowly. I kept pace, walking when he did, and followed him for a few minutes. Then he turned and went into a grassy meadow. I walked to the edge of the meadow and waited. Suddenly, the wildcat jumped into the air and pounced into some tall grass. He stood, and turned his head. He had a mouse in his mouth.
“Then our eyes locked. We stood, motionless, for a good three to four minutes. Then he started to move in slow motion, lowering his back end to the ground. Then he slowly lowered his chest and head, keeping his eyes high enough to see over the tall grass. The entire time, his eyes were locked on mine.
“My inner voice told me to follow suit. In what seemed to my leg muscles to take an eternity, I slowly lowered my back end, then slowly lowered my front end, until I was in the same position. Our eyes remained locked.
“We stayed put. After several minutes my legs begged me to stand up. Going as slowly as I had before, I raised myself up in the same way. When I was again standing, the bobcat copied me, keeping the mouse in his mouth. Our eyes were still locked.
“Finally, I decided to speak to him. I said out loud, ‘Hi, I am Janai. I am so very grateful you have shared this special experience for my birthday. Thank you from my heart.’ He seemed to be listening. ‘My work is for the children in the world, including the children of nature, like yours. Today I want to see if the irises are blooming. I ask for safe passage to the iris field.’
“When I finished the word ‘field,’ he looked away, turned slowly and walked up the side of the mountain, with the mouse still hanging from his mouth.
“I was filled with ecstatic energy, a state of grace and gratitude. Once again my human potential had expanded beyond what I could have imagined.”
Inner tranquility afforded me being able to connect with the wild animal. It continues to inspire me to be open to many life opportunities.
– See more at: http://www.dailytidings.com/article/20141024/NEWS/141029893/101078/LIFE#sthash.bIXk13PN.dpuf
