A Raccoon Saga
of
Fear and Loving in Noho
While you were gone…
I left Los Angeles and took an 8 month contract living and working on a cruise ship. A lot happened while I was there and a lot happened here while I was gone (apparently). I wrote a lot, worked very hard, faced many challenges and gained a lot of insight being away. I found myself and lost myself so many times over on the open water that I could fill pages and pages worth of read worthy shit (and eventually I will)! However, right now I can’t silence this urge to share about the symbolic and unexpected roommates I found myself living with when I returned in the form of a blossoming Raccoon family that made our house their home.
Co-existing with other species & reflecting on our inner demons:
Until recently I knew very little about Raccoons. In fact, I didn’t understand a damn thing about them… until I did. For the first 25+ years of my life, I knew very little about my own fear…until I confronted it. In fact, there is not a lot of focus on the importance of understanding fear as children so we are forced to figure it out ourselves (if we accept the challenge as adults). My journey through fear is much like my experience with Raccoons. They had not been on my radar at all… until they were and there was no turning back. Fear isn’t something you go out seeking but, much like the Raccoon… it doesn’t really matter what the hell you think because, sometimes you don’t have a clue what is best for you. This is how I came to appreciate Raccoons, what they have shown me, what I learned from the experience and how it pertains to the concepts of fear and love. I believe it to be worthy of sharing…
Our society functions like this: When we are bothered by something, we attempt to remove it. When we don’t like something, we attempt to get rid of it. When we don’t understand something, we attempt to hide it. This is also the way we, as humans, have learned to “manage” our own fear: When we are bothered by something, we attempt to remove it. When we don’t like something, we attempt to get rid of it. When we don’t understand something, we attempt to hide it. My aim for writing today is for the sole purpose of proposing the flip side of fear (which is love) and how, if we learn to escape the illusions of being able to “rid” ourselves of fear by, instead, embracing its purpose…we may find a kinder way of treating ourselves and others, a gentler way of existing (or being) and a more truthful path of purpose.
An Honest & Open Letter to the Source:
Dear Fear, I despise you but, I appreciate you. I will track you down, I will find you and I will know you. I am optimistic that one day we will learn to peacefully co-exist. I accept the challenge of your tempting presence but, I am no longer hungry for what you have to offer. You are a powerful force but, so am I. You make me feel weak and I no longer give you permission to make me feel powerless. Your will is not my own and I have exhausted myself trying to remember this so, I have written down some truths that I feel better serve me if I should happen to forget again in the near future. So goes it…
Hippy Dippie 