Follow Your Spirit Guide

I've always suspected the flamingo was my spirit animal. What began with friends in junior high, we each claimed our spirit animal and embraced it. Bari's was a bear, Dana B. - monkey, mine the flamingo. It just felt right! I was a gymnast and a human jumprope, true story. I could easily and comfortably invert a leg and rest it under my elbow for a long time.

The playfulness of Pink (my Aura color) and the fact that I had skinny bird legs, it just felt right. My dad even snatched me some feathers from the flamingo exhibit at the San Diego Zoo once!

As I've gotten older I've never lost my love for flamingos, but my intuition tells me I'm needing more. Of course, I'll always stay true to the lessons learned from a flamingo: WADE INTO LIFE · STAND OUT IN A CROWD · SPEND TIME WITH YOUR FLOCK · FIND THE RIGHT BALANCE · BE FLEXIBLE ·  always. I mean, I even have pink flamingo wallpaper in my closet!

Though perhaps I've been searching for a new spirit guide to lead me.  Perhaps I've outgrown this bird and am ready to soar. 

This past weekend, we packed up the kayaks and headed to the Stones Fork River with the family. Patrick was excited to share this local gem with us, and man what a treat! We dropped in at the Thompson Trailhead in Murfreesboro, and although the river was slow and low, it was the perfect tempo. I was pleasantly surprised we were the only ones out there.

Once we launched and each got settled into our boats, suncreen’d up, River Stuff family playlist coming through the speaker, we were vibin’. Early in the float we were greeted by a deer who crossed the river 100 feet in front of us. She stood along the shore and waited for us to get a better view as we turned the corner. Shortly there after we noticed a very large bird who was flying ahead. We kept talking about her and were so curious as to what it was. She’d cross the river and perch high in the trees, watching as we move along. It was a blue heron!

I suppose her curiosity was as strong as ours because as the day progressed, she got closer and closer to us. As we’d float by her resting along the dock, I was in awe of her beauty, her elegance and stillness.

Now none of us have done this float before and we weren’t sure how long it would take. Unfortunately, Google Maps hasn’t figured out how to calculate kayak float times down a river just yet. We were in no hurry and were having a great day! Our blue heron began flying lower, leading the way for us. She’d swoop down from the trees and skim the surface of the water.  In flight, her wings came alive, revealing the graceful colors and patterns of her feathers.

Not only were we blessed with her guidance, we had a little river celebration as the day came to an end with a pair of eagles swirling around us, a flock of sparrows, and a pair of bright red cardinals crossing the river, true story! It was then that I reached for my phone to record the moment, but of course it was dead. The battery was drained from playing River Stuff for the past eight hours.

I squealed for Brittany to make a note of the song that was playing. It was Let Your Love Flow but the Bellamy Brothers. My girl even got a video of me with the song playing!

We knew our float had come to an end when our blue heron waited for us to say goodbye. She rested along the river just 10 feet from us. Brittany got a picture of this too, love her!

I couldn’t have scripted this day as magical than what we experienced together, even down to the last song. (the hauling out was a complete shitshow, I can’t even go there!)

It’s clearer now more than ever that my new spirit animal is the blue heron. The great blue heron symbolizes self-reliance, patience, and wisdom. It encourages us to trust our own intuition and path, even if it differs from others. The heron also represents a connection to the divine and the ability to adapt and evolve. WOW!

And as the song goes,

“Just let your love flow like a mountain stream

And let your love grow with the smallest of dreams

And let your love show and you'll know what I mean

It's the season

Let your love fly like a bird on a wing

And let your love bind you to all living things

And let your love shine and you'll know what I mean

That's the reason”

#rememberhowtofly #riverstuff #spiritanimal