My friend Nancy recently had a Cat and three kittens adopt her. In perfectly Nancy style, she wondered what message the Universe was trying to send her with the Cats (besides the fact that she is an easy mark for kitty handouts). So she consulted an internet source on animal spirits/totems. I don’t know how reliable such sources are, but I do believe that God sends us messages and inspiration in times of need, and I do believe that animals are often a source of these messages.
When I first arrived at Guantanamo Bay, the USGS was doing a study on the Manatee. They were looking for volunteers to help spot and capture animals that would be evaluated and tagged for research purposes. I went to the training sessions, and learned all about the manatees. I was so excited to be a part of this project. My job was pretty low key… spot from the beach and be part of a land-based capture if the opportunity arose. I wasn’t part of any captures, but I did spot them coming up for air. That was a good start.
But my love affair with the manatee really began when the picture above was taken. If you have been reading my blog, you are aware that I learned to SCUBA dive this year and on my third open water dive (along with my son, Dylan and daughter, Annie) we had a manatee swim through our class. As I watched him (for some reason I believe he was a male) swim by, I felt like he looked right at me. I felt a connection with him. I felt he was there just for me. For days afterward, I was almost giddy thinking about this manatee swimming through class.
One day, as I was driving down Sherman Avenue (GTMO’s main drag), I was struck by the thought that I was truly happy, in that moment. Because of recent life events, I had not felt that way in a long time… close to four years. I had been working on “faking it until you make it” as the saying goes, but in that moment I was NOT faking it.
I have thought a lot about that manatee and volunteered on the next capture endeavor. So when I read Nancy’s Facebook post about looking up the spirit/totem of the cat, I thought I should see what my friend the manatee was sent to tell me.
From the website spirit-animals.com
Manatee
“Let go of your need to control the outcome and allow the universe to generate a solution.” -Manatee
If Manatee has made his presence known in your life;
It’s time to slow down and take the time to swim through your emotions. Let your emotions wash over you so that you can feel what is all percolating there. By allowing yourself to feel you are also allowing yourself to move forward and as you move forward you release the old emotional baggage that no longer serves you. This will open up a new wide range of possibilities for you.
Trust is also a big message that Manatee brings forth. Allowing yourself to move forward slowly and deliberately one step at a time will take you to your goals. Trust the path before you and trust your senses in guiding you there.
This creature is also reminding you to use all of your senses including the etheric ones. You will find your answers in the integration your intuition, emotions and physical senses.
Wow! Yep that is a message I needed to hear.
Feelings: My emotions have been intense the last few years, but I have managed to stuff them down and hide them. If I am ever to heal; I have to feel. I’ve known this to be true, and who can argue with a thousand pound manatee?
Trust: I have felt like this new path I am on is the right one. I am trusting the path, but I am not really sure where it will lead. In the past, all my trust had been placed somewhere unworthy of it. My trust was abused and I am scarred and scared. Most of all I have come through this reluctant to trust even my own instincts … This is my mountain to climb. It seems I will have to trust myself before I am going to ever learn to trust another fully.
Integration of intuition, emotions, and physical senses: I used to be good at this. I used to know when someone was hurting; when they needed a listening ear or space. At some point I stopped listening to and trusting that inner voice. When that happened, I stopped being fully present for others. I have to learn to trust that inner voice so I can help myself and be friend, parent, sibling I want to be. I have been too preoccupied with my own needs, and that disables relationships and forces a person to lose valuable perspective on life.
As the manatee says, I need to… “Let go of my need to control the outcome and allow the universe to generate a solution.”
In other words… Let go and let God. I have had this lesson a lot; evidently, I am a slow learner.
shawberget 