Bear cubs are born while their mother is hibernating- and if it is timed correctly, they are just getting annoying and loud and mobile at about the time the Spring sun has warmed the grasses and mom is awake and ready to get out of the den.
So too was I in hibernation during this season that my children were born- not fully who I am meant to be- going through the motions of birth and nursing and rearing- but somehow still sleepwalking.
I am waking up now- and the children who surround me are awake and vibrant and mystical in their innate differences which make me fall in love with them over and over again.
I find that I want to sit in the warm sun while watching the fruit trees and berry bushes ripen before my eyes.
I want to wander - and take them with me- as I meander through unknown woods. Maybe I'll meet a bee charmer- Idgie Threadgood may be nearby to tempt me.
I want to dip my feet in the shallow stream and bat at the fish - though I don't think I'll become a sushi convert any time soon - the whole adventure sounds remarkable.
That makes me think of the creek up Tsaile mountain - where there were baby trout swimming upstream- and the children and I would make a little fire and bask in the dappled sunshine beneath the pine trees. This place- the place I go to in my mind's eye when I think of a moment of pure peace- is the home of our "bear story", a dozen cookouts, Jeep trips which included 360 spins in the muddy roads, and filling up water jugs with the mountain fountains which dotted the road there. It is a place of intense memories- and even writing this, it feels like I was just there.
Hibernation is fascinating - from an emotional as well as a physiological perspective. A mammal, who very much needs glucose and food to feed it's body - let alone water to hydrate it - goes into a den and sleeps for months at a time. No food or water - no potty breaks - very little exercise or fresh oxygen - it is a biological improbability at best. And yet, in this state, there is the wonder of birth, and what is akin to death and resurrection played out year after year. The bear just falls asleep and believes that waking will happen when the time is right. That is a LOT of faith- to sleep for that long. To wait. To be patient. To trust that the world around you will be okay on it's own while you sleep.
It is a natural part of the course of a bear's life- and as in all other creatures who can teach us something - the bear teaches us about the power of the body, about trust, and most of all about patience.
I feel like a good stretch....how about you?
2 comments:
I think I'd like to be bearish for about a week. A week with a lot of sleep sounds really good to me although I must say that I've been doing reasonably well lately.
One of my blogger friends is really into female wisdom etc to the point that she has started a new site. I thought, given your awakening, that you might be interested Go here and there will be a link to Heather's new site. There's a lot of stuff on her old blog too.
I feel I wish I were a bear
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