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Seal Whisperings

This spring and early summer I had some profound experiences concerning three elephant seals that on different occasions came to a local beach to undertake a process known as catastrophic molting. Elephant seals at different times in the spring and summer (generally juveniles first, followed by adult females, and then adult males) will come up onto sandy beaches to start the molting process that lasts about a month. It’s called catastrophic molting because elephant seals lose all their fur and first layer of skin in a very short period of time compared to other seals and sea lions that lose their fur gradually over a longer period of time. Elephant seals will lose weight, as they are generally not eating while they are molting, and can get lesions and subsequent infections. As a result they can look quite sickly drawing concern by those unaware of the natural process that is taking place. Each seal during its time spent on the local beach this spring and summer shared insightful messages from the sea.

Message One – Community and Connection: Myself and other local residents randomly came together to form an informal volunteer group to maintain a caution-tape perimeter with educational signage around the elephant seals to afford them protection while they were on the beach. This became an exercise of dedication and patience, as we came to the beach each day to monitor the seal and move the perimeter according to the seal’s movements, sometimes visiting four or more times a day and staying long hours to provide education and public outreach. At times when the public took offence to and undermined our efforts because their beach access and beach use was temporarily restricted in a small area, we silently wished for the seal to move on and find another less public beach.

This is when resilience was needed the most. But had those elephant seals never touched the sands of our local beach, I may never have met and connected with these wonderful people living in my community who were instant friends. We were brought together for a common purpose – to protect the seals during their vulnerable, annual life process, and we bonded from our common love, care and concern for the precious marine wildlife we were blessed to interact with in this way.

Message Two – Compassion and Understanding: Upon learning about the presence of an elephant seal on a local beach, naturally people were interested and flocked to the area as if it were a zoo. There were some good intentioned but misinformed actions by concerned members of the public that included throwing water on the seal, placing a blanket on it and trying to feed it watermelon. For others it was all about trying to get as close to the seal as possible, including staging toddlers in front of the seal for the perfect social media post – a dangerous proposition. Unfortunately there was worse, as drunken and sober individuals walked through the flagged perimeter, let their dogs come nose to nose with the seal, threw things and kicked sand at it, or poked it with a stick. Many times these were the actions of parents modeling this behaviour in front of their young children.

At the core of my response to learning or sometimes witnessing these events, my heart hurt and cried, but at the surface in the moment there was disbelief, frustration, and disappointment. It was so quick and easy to polarize the events in haste ‘them’ and us and to have thoughts along the lines of ‘How ignorant, careless, disrespectful and cruel of them’. But polarizing matters and having thoughts like these do not make things better and do not resolve things.

I began to question when our attitudes and behaviours differ from those of others and when trying to appeal to others through gentle reasoning is unsuccessful, how do we accept what is and that differences may remain as they are? Having a sense of compassion and a willingness to try to understand where others may have been to be showing up the way they are now is a first step. But it’s a hard first step when the welfare of an animal, basically defenseless and vulnerable, is at risk. I’m still processing all of this and extend my deepest gratitude to the members of the public that contributed to the protection of the elephant seals and showed such deep respect for these amazing animals.

Message Three – Vulnerability and Self-Nurture: In witnessing and learning more about what elephant seals go through during their catastrophic molt, I was acutely aware of how vulnerable they are during this time – not eating while their energy levels decline, restricted on land for a month if they don’t venture into the water during this time (they normally spend 8-10 months at sea and 90% of that time is underwater), and likely very physically uncomfortable.

I also witnessed their behaviours that seemed to be based in self-nurturing – giving themselves what they needed during this intense, transitional time. They haul out on sandy beaches where they can flip sand onto their bodies to cool down or move down to the waterline to put a flipper or two in the water to achieve the same. They may nestle against logs for warmth or small rocks to rub and scratch their head and body. And they rest, a lot!

How often are we ourselves going through some intense event in life but instead of nurturing ourselves we push through it, harder and faster to get to the other side? Why don’t we give ourselves what we need? Conserve energy, rest, provide warmth, do things that provide calm and relief. I vow to honor real nature and nurture myself when my body needs it whether it is because of sickness or a stressful event in my life. Will you?

With deep gratitude to the three elephant seals that offered these messages and enhanced my sense of purpose, as each day I sprang out of bed to walk down to the beach and check the perimeter tape and the location and condition of each seal while it graced our local beach. In love and protection of nature’s beauty and wisdom!

Filed Under: Messages from the Tide Pool

Still Point

In this fresh, New Year ahead, may we find our still point where we connect with our truth and move forward with that as our guide. Let the rumblings of our mind take rest. Let our actions be bold, courageous and meaningful. Take risks and try something new, start that project that’s yearning to be birthed, live with purpose, connect with your heart, and foster self-care. Wishing you a year that is all that you imagined and more.

“At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is
.”
– T.S Eliot

Filed Under: Messages from the Tide Pool

The Stone Unturned

Can you relate to making a variety of changes to improve things in your life, but there’s a bigger change waiting for you to take action on? Perhaps you have tried to ignore it or the timing is never ‘right’, yet it’s always in the back of your mind whispering to you. I’ve had two of those big changes that I finally acted on within a year of each other.

First it was the career change, which took me close to a decade to act on. The second most recent one was moving out of my home after close to two decades. The need to move had been in the back of my mind for a very long time but something always held me back. Perhaps all the history and life’s lessons while living under the same tiny roof kept me tethered to it. Perhaps it was a false ‘security blanket’ of independence. But deep down I knew that I needed to let go of it to move forward in my life. It felt like the ‘last’ stone unturned. A feeling that was revealed in life in an unique way one day…

…the rock surfaces were all bare at the water’s edge, but in gently lifting them up a myriad of creatures revealed themselves as a whole new world: shore crabs, periwinkles, barnacles, sea anemones, sea stars and more. One may think a beach is devoid of life unless one takes the time to explore all the surfaces, edges and overhangs that are often rich with life.

In turning this ‘last’ stone of my mine, a whole new world has been revealed to me. An expansion of sorts, a rekindled curiosity to explore these new surfaces and edges with fresh inquisitiveness and an open heart.

What unturned stone, big or small, is whispering to you? What new surfaces and edges are waiting for you to discover?

“Leave no stone unturned” – Euripides

Filed Under: Messages from the Tide Pool

Transformational Change

Throughout our lives we experience change ranging from the gentler, subtler kind to the more ‘rattling of your bones’, transformational kind. It’s the transformational change I am deeply curious about because it can be so raw, yet extremely liberating.

I recently dove into a fresh wave of transformational change in the company of seventy-five other women in the Joshua Tree desert; all of us with a deep desire to throw into the fire that which no longer served, a death and rebirth, a stepping into our full power and truth of what we are here to do in this lifetime. The journey afterward has been profound and I found myself drawn to the crab to see what insights from nature it had to offer about this transformational “shedding of skin”.

Crabs go through multiple molting stages in their lifespan. They must shed their exoskeleton (“shell”) to grow. After crabs molt they are highly vulnerable with their new soft exoskeleton. As a result, crabs will often hide until their new “shell” has hardened. In addition, they must grow into their new larger “shell”.

All of this resonates deeply with my own experience of transformational change. In order to grow, there must be the letting go of the layers – thoughts, patterns, behaviours – that no longer serve; it’s the “shedding of one’s skin”.

It often is a vulnerable time afterward as everything feels raw, new, soft, and unfamiliar. Honoring and nurturing one’s vulnerable state is key to embodying this ‘new skin’.

There is this sense of our ‘new skin’ being larger than what we are accustomed to. To me that’s the liberation. There’s room to move in and around it as we familiarize ourselves with our new re-combobulated, re-vitalized self. With time and patience we grow into and embody it.

If we want to grow, change is unavoidable. If we offer ourselves patience and tenderness during the process it can be quite remarkable and liberating, often setting us in a new healthy and meaningful direction in our lives.

“To exist is to change, to change is to mature,
to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly
”
~ Henri Bergson

Filed Under: Messages from the Tide Pool

Charting A New Course

At some point eventually, inevitably, this ‘vessel’ that I am starts to splinter apart into fragments. Like a ship, I feel as though I am sinking into the abyss from the overload of work related stress, over-commitment, overwhelm, resentment, disenchantment, illness and out of balance state. It’s too much for too long. The cracks run deep now. I am no longer a stable, sustainable vessel. Trying to bail out what burdens me seems futile. This time the S.O.S message is REAL. “Save Our Soul” whispers the soft, reverberating voice in my mind.

“Ships don’t sink because of the water around them; ships sink because of the water that gets in them. Don’t let what’s happening around you get inside you and weigh you down.” – Unknown

Standing at the proverbial fork in the road, a distinct and crucial choice is before me. More of the same – surely at the demise of my eroding personal well-being. Or charting a new course – navigating with my inner compass into something unknown requiring courage, trust and curiosity that will lead me to a better quality life. One that feels purposeful. One that inspires and energizes me to be in greater service for humanity and the planet. One that nourishes my soul and my connections in life.

This is my story. I was in a job that became soulless for me over time and I eventually made the necessary choice to leave a 16.5-year career to embark on a transformational journey to create the life I desire to live. Through this blog series, it is my intention to share my experience and what I have learned throughout this journey so far to provide a place of support and inspiration for others during their journey of job and lifestyle change – from getting to a state of readiness to taking creative action. My hope is that you too will share your personal stories for engaging, meaningful conversation. May we support each other in creating health-full, purposeful lives with grace and confidence.

Stay tuned for the next entry How Did I End Up Here?

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Filed Under: The Soulless Job - Getting Unstuck

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Email: gina at successfromwithin dot com

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