Archive

Monthly Archives: October 2013
2

When elephants grieve

In 1998, prize-winning conservationist Lawrence Anthony purchased 5,000 acres of pristine bush known as Thula Thula in the heart of Zululand, South Africa.

He then transformed what had been a run-down 19th Century hunters’ camp into a wild animal preserve and a center for eco-tourism.

In 1999, he was asked to take in a herd of “rogue” elephants from another game reserve. These wild elephants were going to be shot if another home was not found for them!

Knowing he was their last hope, and against all odds of success, Anthony took them in.

The story of how Anthony rescued and rehabilitated the elephants by winning their trust, becoming their friend, and learning to communicate with them is described in his best-selling book, The Elephant Whisperer.

But the most remarkable part of his story may be what happened after Anthony died.

Continue reading

10

Life lessons from autumn leaves

Autumn is in full swing here in the northern U.S. And the colors are spectacular.

They are also a wonderful reminder of the circle of life, the passing of time, and how the earth always renews itself.

Indigenous peoples didn’t use a linear calendar; the year didn’t start with January 1 and end with December 31. And there wasn’t an old man carrying a scythe and hourglass to symbolize the gloom of another year over.

Native people noted what’s going on in the natural world by the change in the landscape around them and the movement of the sun, moon and stars.

And that in turn helps them remember the circle of all life; everything dies and returns.

Continue reading

5

What you focus on expands!

“What you focus on expands.” Most of us have heard that phrase. It’s the principle of the “law of attraction.”

Sounds so easy. Yet it’s also easy to forget.

Years ago when the film “The Secret” was all the rage, a friend of mine said she refused to watch the film because she’d known about the Law of Attraction for years and years.

Yet she didn’t practice it! She was someone who always focused on the negative. And when you focus on the negative, you just get more negative stuff happening to you.

Because what you focus on expands. Period.

Applying the principle to relationships:

Continue reading

6

Were you Crazy Horse in a past life?

“I was Crazy Horse in a past life.”

No, that’s not me saying that. But it’s a statement I’ve heard several times from people I’ve met through my years of walking the Native American spiritual path.

Sometimes they say they were Sitting Bull or some other famous Native American Holy man, but never a shepherd or pony boy or woman.

It’s not my place to judge whether they’re right or wrong, but I always have the same thought when I hear it: “But who are you in this life?”

Because that’s the only thing that’s important: who are you now.

Not, what’s your title or job. Rather, what is your character?

Continue reading

12

We come from the stars

Do you ever look up at the night sky and feel a longing? A familiarity? As if perhaps you came from the stars?

I do.

Whenever I look at the Pleiades I feel a calling to home. And there’s a reason for that.

We come from the stars. The carbon, nitrogen and oxygen atoms found in all life on earth, including humans, was produced originally in stars billions of years ago.

That is scientific fact.

The universe is in us. The universe is us.

Stars that collapsed, exploded and scattered over the universe became part of gas clouds and formed the next generation of solar systems.

“The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars.

“We are a way for the universe to know itself. Some part of our being knows this is where we came from. We long to return. And we can, because the cosmos is also within us. We’re made of star stuff.” Carl Sagan, in the 1980 PBS series “Cosmos.”

Continue reading