My Experience With Spirit Animals
I've always been someone who's very in tune with nature. I find comfort in being surrounded by trees and listening to the soft chirps of birds.
During times of stress I find myself being drawn to the outdoors. Something about the sun on my skin and the breeze flowing really centers me. Because I've been under a lot of stress lately I've been spending a lot more time outdoors than I normally would. Going for long walks or sitting outside listening to the beautiful noises nature creates has become part of my daily routine.
About a month ago a particular event occurred that sent my life into a spiral. I began questioning and doubting everything. I allowed myself to go to a dark place in my head and no longer felt happy. It was after this event that I encountered my first experience with "sprit animals."
For those of you who don't know, a spirit animal is an animal (obviously) that will stand out to you and become prevalent in your life. You may see this animal once or dozens of times but the awareness you have for this particular animal becomes dominant in your mind. These animals are a way for the universe to send you messages and aid you in learning life lessons.
After the initial event, I started noticing hawks everywhere that I went. They would be sitting in strange places, flying in cities they usually wouldn't and flying in groups of more than just 2 (which is very rare for these birds). Every single day I would see at least 3 hawks. These birds were not doing normal hawk things. At one point, I saw one sitting on a baseball field that was crowded with people.
I finally decided to try and understand the message that the universe was trying to send me. What the hell was with these insane amounts of hawks? Why were they following me? Were they even following me or was I seriously losing my shit?
I headed to a crystal shop nearby that I knew had several animal totems and did regular tarot card readings. I told the woman what was going on and she pulled out her tarot guide book to look up the meaning of the hawk. The woman began reading me the meaning behind the presence of hawks.
Basically, hawks try to guide you into seeing the bigger picture. They aid in avoiding honing in on one particular issue and instead try to show you to see things as a whole. Hawks will give you the power of clear vision in times when your tunnel vision is taking over.
It all made sense when she told me this. I wasn't losing my mind, I was finding peace of mind. The universe was trying to show me the way to happiness again and I was finally aware enough to listen.
The following week during a therapy session, I told my therapist about my weird hawk phenomena. She was able to apply my experience to the situation I was currently in. I had been so focused in on the pain I was feeling that I wasn't allowing myself to look at my life as a whole. I walked away from that session feeling the best I had felt in weeks.
After that day, I hadn't been seeing hawks anymore. It was as if the universe knew that I had received it's message and trusted me to fulfill it.
Another week went by and in a time of weakness I asked the universe for a sign. I needed to know that I was on the right track and that I was still living up to the message I had received. The next day on my way home from work I saw two hawks flying along the freeway beside me. On my afternoon walk, I saw one more flying above as I walked through the hills.
I had received my confirmation.
Although I have received my message and I am doing my best to live up to it, I still see a hawk every once in a while. At first I thought it was the universe telling me I'm heading back into the wrong direction, but now I see it as a reminder for myself. In times of stress it's important to try to see the bigger picture.
The pain you're feeling now is temporary. Even the most painful situations might actually be blessings in disguise. Through my stressful experience I was able to recenter myself and learn so much about who I am.
Without this crazy hawk experience, I don't know that I would be as strong as I am being now.
I know there's a lot of people out there that are going to say this is just a coincidence but please allow yourself to open your eyes to the awesome messages that the universe can offer you.
Have you had any experiences with spirit animals? Let me know in the comments below.