Woodpecker Medicine

Blogs are honestly hard to write these days. Do I tell a story? Do I go stream of consciousness? Do I overshare for funsies?

A couple of weeks ago, I learned that if one started seeing turtles everywhere, Native Americans would refer you to “Turtle Medicine” the lesson you are to learn from the ways of the turtle. This seemed really cool and I hadn’t thought of it before. Like there was one morning I randomly woke up at 4 in the morning, made a mug of hot tea and went and sat on my front porch steps. I kid you not within minutes *minutes* a deer came walking *down the street* that runs alongside the west side of my house before turning right and going up the next road.

I woke up. At 4am. Felt the urge to be outside. Did so. Saw a deer.

Now, I don’t live in a wooded area. We are the largest lot in our neighborhood and it’s .25 acre. A deer walking down the street is truly so random.

<pausing to consider whether to delete all of this or just keep going with it>

So, that happens months ago with the deer. A couple of weeks ago, I learn about “Turtle Medicine”. And now I am writing a blog titled Woodpecker Medicine, and – really – I think it’s just to maybe break some ground here on Frozen Spaghetti before life flashes before my eyes, I’m 80 y/o and wondering why I stopped blogging these little side notes about the progress of my life.

When I was writing today, like I do on Fridays, I was interrupted by short rhythmic drills of a woodpecker. And not like the incessant rolling drilling of woodpeckers. These were little bursts of patterns.

I stopped what I was doing and Googled “Woodpecker Medicine”. Remembering how I wish I remembered what was going on in my life when I saw that deer and that I knew to search for “Deer Medicine”, I went ahead and asked the internet to show me what was the Woodpecker in Native American myth & lore. How it was perceived as providing guidance. What it meant to have a Spirit Animal as a Woodpecker.

And – it was about diligence staying after what you are hungry for…

It was about finding rhythm.

I read that some Native American drumming would start from repeating the rolls of a woodpecker and apparently carry them to meditative states. I started to record a memo on my phone and later, when designing my Friday Night Restorative Class, I listened to it – tapping my chest in echo to the woodpecker until I found a bit that stuck. My body relaxed. Interesting.

In Psalm A Day, we read Psalm 123 today, “I look up” – “I raise my head” to the Lord… where does my help come from… And it wasn’t lost on me that I received this reminder to stay focused on my mission (to spread the love of God through the spirituality of self care) when I looked up from what I was doing.

The more I have been studying and observing, the more obvious it is than ever to me that we are being communicated with all the time. I recently told my therapist that I am starting to get the whole “we are always dreaming” thing mentioned in the Four Agreements and that it feels really super awesome, but can also make you feel like “what’s the point”. She corrected me and said, “well, it can make you wonder what is real”.

When we choose to live with our eyes and ears open –

when we choose to live in a way that sees what our subconscious mind is dictating… what our limited or outdated beliefs are driving…

it seems to me we stumble like fully, deeply into our truth. The undeniable truths of who we have always been. Our purpose. Our humor.

I guess, maybe I have started to grow sensitive to when I hear people talk about how hard life is, how much bs they have on their plates, how exhausted they are, etc. Why? Not because I am not compassionate but because – let me be transparent – my life has been challenging and really pushed me to new understandings. But what I have learned that gives me peace (like way mucho peace) is that there is always so much to know.

There is always so much to experience and learn.

From my body, from the world around me, from woodpeckers and deer…

I think there is a lot of freedom that comes in the gift of observation and, from that freedom comes a lot of joy.

I don’t have any scripture to back that up yet. But it will come. I’m sure of it.

Ok. I gotta go to bed.

PS: More on how the retreat went another time…