My sister is an animal lover. Actually, everyone in the family is (oh the list of animals we've had the pleasure of learning from!). But my sister is different, her aura changes when she's dealing with animals. There's something very peaceful, relaxed and powerful about her when she's interacting with pets (or creatures she would like to be pets).
My sister is strong and has her rough moments, but she is growing up into someone I admire so much. She is creative, travels alone, nursed a puppy sick with parvo back to life, tries to live simply (I told her about Leo Babauta and the 100 Things Challenge, but she's made quicker progress)... All in all, an amazing human being.
Recently, she brought home two guinea pigs given by a friend. I watched her deal with them (and we've never had guinea pigs before) and she was so at peace. She was carrying them one by one to a bigger container, no qualms in holding an animal we've had no experience holding before. She was fearless and beautiful. And I saw how in that fearlessness, she was able to be very gentle and kind with the scared animals - a dichotomy that was refreshing to see.
There is the thinking that fearlessness is expressed in bold actions, aggression, a display of my willpower vs. yours/the world; my sister, in one minute of trying not to make guinea pigs squeal, disproved that. Fearlessness is also love that is big enough to be tender in situations not completely under our control. It is not doubting others' intentions, or second-guessing them, or trying to be steps ahead of them, or competing with them. And in the case of my sister and her fuzzy pets, it's accepting that they don't have an agenda apart from - at that moment - being what they are, guinea pigs.
Past experiences have given me a lot of fears that I'm still dealing with, but there are moments of lightheartedness that make me feel like myself. I'm still on this journey and working towards more pure moments of fearlessness that finds itself in kindness.
Here's to 2013!
My sister is strong and has her rough moments, but she is growing up into someone I admire so much. She is creative, travels alone, nursed a puppy sick with parvo back to life, tries to live simply (I told her about Leo Babauta and the 100 Things Challenge, but she's made quicker progress)... All in all, an amazing human being.
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| Say hello to Woody & Guthrie. Yes, my sister is a big music fan :) |
There is the thinking that fearlessness is expressed in bold actions, aggression, a display of my willpower vs. yours/the world; my sister, in one minute of trying not to make guinea pigs squeal, disproved that. Fearlessness is also love that is big enough to be tender in situations not completely under our control. It is not doubting others' intentions, or second-guessing them, or trying to be steps ahead of them, or competing with them. And in the case of my sister and her fuzzy pets, it's accepting that they don't have an agenda apart from - at that moment - being what they are, guinea pigs.
Past experiences have given me a lot of fears that I'm still dealing with, but there are moments of lightheartedness that make me feel like myself. I'm still on this journey and working towards more pure moments of fearlessness that finds itself in kindness.
Here's to 2013!
