Instead of our usual Friday Frolic, I'm giving this space up to guest blogger, Julie Baker, a long-time animal rescuer and friend
Respect
by Julie Baker
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A long time ago, through a journey in life filled with pain and abuse and suffering. I was unlucky enough to step in a yellow jackets nest, that the wasps had built in a ground hogs hole. A rock shifted and I was trapped. Not Fun…. Yellow jackets are a species of Vespula that many jokingly say are made out of pure rage and pain. They are social, territorial, aggressive and relentless, and saw me as an invasive monster that was bend on destroying their home and stealing their babies. So they did what any social, territorial, aggressive and relentless species would, and stung and bit me all over my body in an effort to make me stop destroying their home.
For years, I hated and feared these creatures. I ran crying and screaming form them, I killed them at every opportunity and I Enjoyed it, I felt Empowered by it. It was revenge for attacking me and it made me feel less afraid. Since I now had a terrible life threatening allergy triggered by wasp and bee stings. I felt pretty vindicated in killing anything with a pointy ass that came into my line of sight. I had to protect my life right? The lives of my poor innocent children yes? Who were not allergic at all… by the way.
My children, learned to hate them as well and I was ok with that. Then one day, while sitting in the yard, can of Raid at hand, (just in case) watching my two year old and four year old play. I noticed my tiny daughter, spot a honey bee in the clover and start to cry. My son, came to his sisters rescue, and stomped the offending bee, that was Not Near them, and start clapping.
I felt like a monster. Look, what I had taught my children, just LOOK at what I did to them. I felt like something people scrap off their shoe. I looked at my babies, I looked at the can of raid and the fly swatter at my side. I looked at myself and burst into tears. I had spent, so much of my life, getting rid of the fears that being an abused child had placed in me, that I failed to recognize the fear and hate that I had myself cultivated in me, and then passed to my innocent children. So I vowed to make a change, and I did. It was a long road of antivenin treatments, days spent at apiaries, nights with my head stuck in entomology books, and afternoons learning to not let fear guide me. I had to also teach this to my children and deprogram them from the fear I created. It took a long time, but I made it, and during this voyage I came to understand a great deal about life, fear, compassion, balance and seeing beauty in all things. Yes folks, ALL things, even the things I detest… and moving forward with a respect for all life.
Now let me get one thing straight. I kill things, in order to live. ALL Living Things Do. It is a simple, unavoidable fact of life that I have accepted logically and emotionally. All living things have to take the life of another living thing in order to exist. Plants and animals are living things, and to me are equal in life. I understand that when I eat I am subsisting on the life of another being, be it a plant or an animal. I refuse to cherry pick morality by pretending that one is less alive or aware then another to make myself feel better about this fact of life. I also do not torture myself with guilt over it. I accept my place within the circle, and my position in the food chain, which is nowhere near the top. I do, respect what I eat, I respect what I end, and I honor it, always. In my every day I honor the life that is extinguished so that I can live and I thank it all, every time I eat or take a shower or walk through my yard.
Some killing in life is unavoidable. Take a shower and Wham, the human microbiome starts writing tiny flood stories. In their lives, a day is a history and what we do in the course of it impacts their lives, just like we are impacted by what happens on the body of the being we inhabit. So yes there are unavoidable things in life. This doesn’t mean we have to be assholes about it. We do not need to let Fear motivate us, which is the leading cause of avoidable death in snakes, spiders, and wasps. We do not Need to kill without reason.
Being one with nature, means understanding our place within it. We are not above it, more important than it is or granted the right to destroy something merely because it exists. Fear is an emotion that can be set aside. It can be turned around and cast off like a cloak that has grown t heavy. When we set it aside, we are free to see the beauty and detail of all of the creature’s around us. Even those we do not find appealing and desire no part of. We have a choice. This does not mean siting back and allowing anything in the plant or animal kingdom do us harm. Choice is making the conscious decision to handle the situation with compassion, grace and responsibility. Enlightenment means opening our minds to all things, not just some things. Being an animal lover, means all animals, even the “frightening” ones, even the Human ones and treating each situation in a way that does the Least damage to our planetary neighbors first.
I invite you, dear reader, to take a look at the things you fear, with an open mind and a heart full of compassion and the desire to move into tomorrow with one less brick in your backpack. Go learn about what you fear the most. Teach yourself to look beyond assumptions and lies and understand the complexity and astounding quality of that which you learned through your life to be afraid of.
Respect
by Julie Baker
I was asked, to write about, what it means to me, to be a person who prescribes to an earth based path. I can be called many things, but I try to avoid labels because I want my perceptions to grow and evolve always, and this includes how I am perceived. All that said. I choose a path in life that embraces a respect for the world around me, and all of the things in it. I think its pretty simple, I try to follow the “Do unto others” and I strive to be a good example of my species.
A day or so ago, someone who identifies as being a being who has an earth based faith or path, killed a snake, a copperhead to be exact. She said she needed to defend her family, that she was protecting her children. She implied she had no other choice and then posted gleefully and proudly about how she ran it over with her vehicle, effectively crushing it to death. Her announcement was praised by her friends, lauded and applauded and rewarded. These other beings, no doubt, feel that they too, are one with the earth and stars, and that moonlight drips from their fingers in celebration of their lofty self image. Most assured, all of the gods and goddesses understand, how this nasty creature deserved death at the wheels of this most powerful witch. Yes?
No, actually, I believe if there are divine creatures that gaze upon our actions, I think, this would have made them weep. It made me, sad at heart, and sad in spirit. Not because a snake died. Snakes die all the time, often at the “hands” of other snakes. Creatures on this planet, great and small die by the Billions, every minute. It is the nature of life and the life of nature. I understand and accept this fact and my place within the circle of existence. I do not, however gaze upon it in pleasure, when my actions, or existence causes a life to end.
I’m a simple creature. I live, love, work play and do my best to be a human that doesn’t screw up too often. I have simple but satisfying aspirations, I have simple ways of seeing the world around me and I have simple philosophies. The main guiding force of my life however, the force that holds the needle in the compass of my existence is compassion. I have found, that this One Thing, guides me. Even more then Love, because I am honest to know that I cannot and do not love all beings and all things. I accept this, as a part of both nature and human nature. I can not only NOT like something. I can Loathe it. I can be Terrified of it, and still act compassionately toward it. Its been a hard won evolution in my personal growth and I admit, I struggle with it, especially as it comes to my own species, but I try, and I think I am doing pretty well.
A day or so ago, someone who identifies as being a being who has an earth based faith or path, killed a snake, a copperhead to be exact. She said she needed to defend her family, that she was protecting her children. She implied she had no other choice and then posted gleefully and proudly about how she ran it over with her vehicle, effectively crushing it to death. Her announcement was praised by her friends, lauded and applauded and rewarded. These other beings, no doubt, feel that they too, are one with the earth and stars, and that moonlight drips from their fingers in celebration of their lofty self image. Most assured, all of the gods and goddesses understand, how this nasty creature deserved death at the wheels of this most powerful witch. Yes?
No, actually, I believe if there are divine creatures that gaze upon our actions, I think, this would have made them weep. It made me, sad at heart, and sad in spirit. Not because a snake died. Snakes die all the time, often at the “hands” of other snakes. Creatures on this planet, great and small die by the Billions, every minute. It is the nature of life and the life of nature. I understand and accept this fact and my place within the circle of existence. I do not, however gaze upon it in pleasure, when my actions, or existence causes a life to end.
I’m a simple creature. I live, love, work play and do my best to be a human that doesn’t screw up too often. I have simple but satisfying aspirations, I have simple ways of seeing the world around me and I have simple philosophies. The main guiding force of my life however, the force that holds the needle in the compass of my existence is compassion. I have found, that this One Thing, guides me. Even more then Love, because I am honest to know that I cannot and do not love all beings and all things. I accept this, as a part of both nature and human nature. I can not only NOT like something. I can Loathe it. I can be Terrified of it, and still act compassionately toward it. Its been a hard won evolution in my personal growth and I admit, I struggle with it, especially as it comes to my own species, but I try, and I think I am doing pretty well.
A long time ago, through a journey in life filled with pain and abuse and suffering. I was unlucky enough to step in a yellow jackets nest, that the wasps had built in a ground hogs hole. A rock shifted and I was trapped. Not Fun…. Yellow jackets are a species of Vespula that many jokingly say are made out of pure rage and pain. They are social, territorial, aggressive and relentless, and saw me as an invasive monster that was bend on destroying their home and stealing their babies. So they did what any social, territorial, aggressive and relentless species would, and stung and bit me all over my body in an effort to make me stop destroying their home.
For years, I hated and feared these creatures. I ran crying and screaming form them, I killed them at every opportunity and I Enjoyed it, I felt Empowered by it. It was revenge for attacking me and it made me feel less afraid. Since I now had a terrible life threatening allergy triggered by wasp and bee stings. I felt pretty vindicated in killing anything with a pointy ass that came into my line of sight. I had to protect my life right? The lives of my poor innocent children yes? Who were not allergic at all… by the way.
My children, learned to hate them as well and I was ok with that. Then one day, while sitting in the yard, can of Raid at hand, (just in case) watching my two year old and four year old play. I noticed my tiny daughter, spot a honey bee in the clover and start to cry. My son, came to his sisters rescue, and stomped the offending bee, that was Not Near them, and start clapping.
I felt like a monster. Look, what I had taught my children, just LOOK at what I did to them. I felt like something people scrap off their shoe. I looked at my babies, I looked at the can of raid and the fly swatter at my side. I looked at myself and burst into tears. I had spent, so much of my life, getting rid of the fears that being an abused child had placed in me, that I failed to recognize the fear and hate that I had myself cultivated in me, and then passed to my innocent children. So I vowed to make a change, and I did. It was a long road of antivenin treatments, days spent at apiaries, nights with my head stuck in entomology books, and afternoons learning to not let fear guide me. I had to also teach this to my children and deprogram them from the fear I created. It took a long time, but I made it, and during this voyage I came to understand a great deal about life, fear, compassion, balance and seeing beauty in all things. Yes folks, ALL things, even the things I detest… and moving forward with a respect for all life.
Now let me get one thing straight. I kill things, in order to live. ALL Living Things Do. It is a simple, unavoidable fact of life that I have accepted logically and emotionally. All living things have to take the life of another living thing in order to exist. Plants and animals are living things, and to me are equal in life. I understand that when I eat I am subsisting on the life of another being, be it a plant or an animal. I refuse to cherry pick morality by pretending that one is less alive or aware then another to make myself feel better about this fact of life. I also do not torture myself with guilt over it. I accept my place within the circle, and my position in the food chain, which is nowhere near the top. I do, respect what I eat, I respect what I end, and I honor it, always. In my every day I honor the life that is extinguished so that I can live and I thank it all, every time I eat or take a shower or walk through my yard.
Some killing in life is unavoidable. Take a shower and Wham, the human microbiome starts writing tiny flood stories. In their lives, a day is a history and what we do in the course of it impacts their lives, just like we are impacted by what happens on the body of the being we inhabit. So yes there are unavoidable things in life. This doesn’t mean we have to be assholes about it. We do not need to let Fear motivate us, which is the leading cause of avoidable death in snakes, spiders, and wasps. We do not Need to kill without reason.
Being one with nature, means understanding our place within it. We are not above it, more important than it is or granted the right to destroy something merely because it exists. Fear is an emotion that can be set aside. It can be turned around and cast off like a cloak that has grown t heavy. When we set it aside, we are free to see the beauty and detail of all of the creature’s around us. Even those we do not find appealing and desire no part of. We have a choice. This does not mean siting back and allowing anything in the plant or animal kingdom do us harm. Choice is making the conscious decision to handle the situation with compassion, grace and responsibility. Enlightenment means opening our minds to all things, not just some things. Being an animal lover, means all animals, even the “frightening” ones, even the Human ones and treating each situation in a way that does the Least damage to our planetary neighbors first.
I invite you, dear reader, to take a look at the things you fear, with an open mind and a heart full of compassion and the desire to move into tomorrow with one less brick in your backpack. Go learn about what you fear the most. Teach yourself to look beyond assumptions and lies and understand the complexity and astounding quality of that which you learned through your life to be afraid of.