Holding On To What Enhances My Life

I picked up my didgeridoo and carried it outside into our backyard. The didgeridoo and I sat on the lawn under the guava tree while the sun blew a gentle breeze onto my shoulders. The sun giggled because it had stolen the moisture from the grass and turned its blades into stiff bristles that poked my butt. “Move over here.” I turned to the seven foot tall potato bush. “Move over here,” the potato bush’s purple blooms whispered again. I stood up, brushed the dry bristles from my butt and sat in the shade of the potato bush.

I placed my didgeridoo on my toes, closed my eyes and blew. My Spirit Helper came and walked me around the yard, first asking the climbing rose, “What does he need to hold onto?” She didn’t wait for an answer before leading me to the lemon tree, the potato bush, the orange tree and the guava tree. She asked the same question of each one.  Then my spirit helper turned to me. “Follow me,” she said. We walked up to the guava tree and climbed into the crack in the open branch. Down we went to the pond in the lower world. Abuelita sat on a concrete bench with other Spirit Helpers around her. “Siéntate,” she said and patted the space next to her on the bench. She smiled at me and waited. “What should I hold onto?” I asked.  She motioned for me to look at the pond.

An enormous shimmering black Raven, the size of the entire pond, glided down and hovered over the pond. Its beak glimmered like obsidian.  It shrunk down to my size and came over to me. It stared at me with its left black eye. “Hold on to this,” he said. “To your spiritual access, to your healing energy, to what feeds your soul.” He pointed with his beak to Coyote.

Coyote danced on his hind legs and shook his forepaws in the air.  “Hold on to goofiness, silliness, and play,” he said. “For they will supply the food that feeds your soul. Never forget that you are here to play.” He laughed and continued dancing.

I turned to my Spirit Helper. She walked over to me with long and slow movements of her legs. I caressed her head and rubbed under her chin. She purred and brushed her head against mine. She held my gaze as she said, “Hold on to your capacity for compassion, for listening to sad stories, for sitting with the pain of others and for being the healer. Never forget that we are here to work with you, to play with you and to laugh with you.”

Coyote walked over to me. “And don’t take yourself too seriously,” he said and grinned. “Don’t forget that you are here to bring joy and you can’t do that if you can’t be goofy.” He licked me a kiss.

My Spirit Helper led me back up the tree and back to where my body played the didgeridoo. I turned and all of the Spirit Helpers had come with us. I thanked them for their guidance and love. I opened my eyes and heard, Coyote say, “Don’t forget to wipe the grass off your butt or you’ll be a grass ass.” I heard him laugh as he trotted ahead of me.