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"It was from them that I first
learned of the intelligence that lurks in nonhuman nature, the
ability that an alien form of sentience has to echo one's own,
to instill a reverberation in oneself that temporarily shatters
habitual ways of seeing and feeling, leaving one open to a world
all alive, awake, and aware."
David Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous |
Dear All,
If you are on my mailing list you may have already come to expect an annual letter right around the end of each year. In those letters I choose a path and follow it, inviting you to join me. Now, I am hoping to take walks with you more frequently, if you so desire.
Elephants
First, I want to tell you I have created an elephant page at my web site that is about my elephant journey. You can join me there whenever you please by going to About Us and then linking to the page from there. Right now there is the story of how I became interested in elephants and a link to excerpts from my journals. Soon, there will be links to information about elephants, articles, leading elephant people, and more.
Spatial Awareness and Intimacy
My interests have been sharpening around the subject of "space" and the power of intention, most specifically as it relates to the horses because they have been such steadfast role models for me. However, strongly linked to this spatial awareness has been an obvious connection to self value and the ability to recognize the gap between that which flows within and through me (and everything else) and that part of myself which I at times perceive as separate. Intimacy is magnetic and relates directly with the closing of that gap. I don't know about you, but intimacy is my reason for living. I love the interaction available to me in this body.
Playground Activity
So, if you are interested in exploring the options available to you as they relate to horses and to my ideas, take a look at the programs I am offering this year. The time commitment ranges from minutes to days, the means vary as does the cost. Right now the activities rotate around the horses. However, I hope to begin including you in elephant activities eventually. All of it sounds like fun to me, but it would be so much better to do it with you!
Story Time
I mentioned a book, Silent Thunder, to you in my Annual Letter. In that book the author, Katy Payne, tells a story about an encounter she has with a lion. I read this terrifying and beautiful story in the middle of the night because I could not put the book down. Katy is a wonderful writer, so aware of the details that lace our hearts to one another. I fell in love with the lion who shared in her story; the silhouette of his mane in the moonlight, the stunning terribleness in his gaze, his intense sense of self as he rose in the morning and turned his back on her, and his kill shortly thereafter! Nothing surpasses that and I am so glad Katy is still here.
I have not had any experience so dangerous as that which Katy described, but I do remember one moment (of many) where the call to be all that I am rose in the moment. Horses at times demand this merely by being all that they are in the moment and in that instant I care enough to do the same. One time I rounded a bend lost in thought while at the same time my beloved Brannon rounded the bend going the opposite direction. We were both caught by surprise. She curled back on her haunches, arched her neck, pinned her ears, bared her teeth and widened 
her eyes until I could see the whites. Simultaneously, I felt myself fill with energy that spoke of the certainty that the spot on which I stood was mine. There was no conscious thought of what I should do, as there was most likely none on her part either. We simply danced. Then it was over. She went around me and I proceeded down the path. However, something changed between us that day. That meeting, where flesh and bone, plans and strategy, and other perceived limitations dissolve, brought us together to form a community of two. That is the community of the heart of which I so often refer.
Calendar
My very next event is just around the corner. It is a 3-hour Harmony with Horses Workshop on Saturday, June 2 from 9-12. There is still room and I would love to hear from you. Please check out the calendar of events here at Full House Farm and join me soon!! Don't be bashful. Just call or e-mail and we'll head out on the path together.
Love,
Christine