Today, on my morning hike I saw 4 DEER. In. The. Desert.
Since I’ve been out here, I’ve seen coyotes, snakes, scorpions, lizards (many tailless and tortured by my baby dragons cats), cottontail bunnies, jackrabbits, bobcats, bighorn sheep, roadrunners, chippies, squirrels…but never, ever a deer.*
So why the big deal? Um, well, deer medicine is crazy sacred. And it’s some of my favorite medicine.
If you’re not familiar with animal medicine, it’s a practice of awareness that each animal, as it crosses your path, brings a special energetic offering for you. This honoring is practiced in many indigenous cultures.
And since these 4 big’uns crossed my path today, I’m spreading their medicine to you. You’re welcome. Happy friggin’ Friday.
Deer medicine is all about gentleness. In words, thoughts, touch, action.
And where I notice gentleness is always most needed is with ourselves. You knew I was going here, didn’t you?
Let’s play a not-so-fun game called how hard on yourself are you?
Scale of 1-10…1 being “I never say or think an unkind thing to myself,” 5 being “I pretty much blame myself for most things,” and 10 being “I don’t deserve good things. I’m a failure. If something nice comes along, it won’t last long because I’ll eff it up. I seriously stink.”
- Rate yourself.
- Be honest.
- I told you it wasn’t fun, but it was brave.
- Give yourself a hug. Seriously. Right now.
Honestly, most of us are/or have been in the 7-10 range.** It takes some serious werk to get to the 2-3 range. And 1s? They be some alien/angel/spirit beings. Maybe one day…
Really, that means we are ALL super hard on ourselves. You are quite likely an expert on beating up the one you’re supposed to love most. You.
Imagine if you were as good at loving up on you as berating yourself? Yeah, whoa.
Self-depricating humor counts too. That shit may spark laughs (oh, I get it), but it’s at your own spirit’s expense.
A few weeks back, when I was going through the three blocks that keep you from doing the things you want to do — self-judgment was #3.
You take yourself down to the mat which makes progress (or change) MUY DIFICIL. It’s like if you planted a seed, had a tender little shoot coming up and you just yelled at it to “Stop growing!!” and pushed it back down into the dirt.
Over time that resilient little tendril would give up. That’s you. Ugh. I know.
So how the hell do you change that??
- Otis Redding said it best…”try a little tenderness.”
- What is it you are saying to yourself (ie I’m not smart enough. I don’t deserve success. If I trust, I’ll be let down, etc)? How long have you been saying it? It’s ok, we all have these.
- Forgiveness is key, my love. You have to forgive yourself for being so hard on yourself.
- Find a way to love up on yourself this weekend. Not with a whole bottle of wine (though a medicinal glass of warm chard’ is my jam) or a bag of gluten-free gingersnaps (is that just me?)…but more gentle and attentive.
You deserve the best of everything. Call the deer in.*** Be gentle.
* They’re called Mule Deer because of their big ol’ ears. You can see them on my instagram stories.
** Not a scientific study, just my observation from working with hundreds of humans.
*** TGIDM: Thank goddess it’s deer medicine.