I watched a great documentary called “The Octopus Teacher” a couple weeks ago and really enjoyed the story. A quick summary: a guy that’s a free diver befriends an octopus and tells the story of their relationship and the daily events he witnessed in the octopus’ life. The film made me remember how fortunate we are to have animal teachers all around us.
There is a hawk that comes into my backyard to hang out. It will sun, clean, hunt, and play. It will sit for hours observing the surroundings. I love to see how connected to the environment it is. It reminds me to be mindful, aware, and connected to my surroundings.
Another animal teacher I’ve encountered recently is a garden spider that was living on the side of my house. Growing up we had lots of these spiders around but this was the first one I had seen at my current home. I started checking on her everyday and as my interest grew I looked into them a little more. I found out the sacks she was building in the web were egg sacs and once she laid her eggs her life cycle would be complete. I was quite sad that this beauty would die so soon. As the nights grew cold, one morning she was gone and only the sacks remained. She left me with the knowing that all things come to an end, both “good” and “bad”. With that it comes back to living mindful and being in the present moment as it is all we have.
