Learning on Many Levels: The Grackle

Judith is the author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, romantic fiction that honors spiritual practices that nourish the soul and celebrates the journey from relationship to romance.

You may remember at the end of last week’s post I said I’d tell you a story about a Grackle. Here’s the story:

In 2014 when I attended the Desert Dreams Writers conference, a bird kept visiting my room. Well, not actually in my room, but it sat on the railing outside my room. My friend, Lois, told me it was a Grackle. Now Grackles are big and dark, resembling a crow or raven if you’ve never seen one. Being someone who believes that animals (including birds, reptiles, insects) bear messages, I looked up Grackle in Ted Andrew’s Animal Speak book.

Fast forward to 2017. I’m again in Arizona attending the Desert Dreams Writers’ Conference where I’m not only presenting a workshop but also participating in the Readers’ Experience. (More on that later). One of the things I needed for my “Book Club” was a stash of desert quartz. My friend, Lois, had some she was willing to share.

The day was Hot (especially to my Pacific Northwest self). We gathered the desert quartz but had another task to perform before returning to air conditioned comfort.

Grackle - we put nuts out so I could take pictures

Three large black birds sat on tree limbs a few feet away and were chattering away as if giving us advice on how to go about our task. At one point I turned towards them and had a ‘conversation’ with them, assuring them we would finish quickly and leave them alone, reminding them that we are all part of the larger circle of life, etc.

When we were done and had returned to air conditioned comfort, I asked Lois what those large black birds were. “Grackles,” she replied.

So out came Ted Andrews’ book as I refreshed my memory as to their significance.

What you don’t know unless you know me personally is that when I arrived in Arizona a couple of days earlier I was struggling with a conundrum of difficulties. I’d been obsessively talking about the challenges in my life. I’m sure my friends were sick of me chattering on and on about it—but even though I knew I was repeating myself off I’d go again.

Grackle=overcoming excess and emotional life congestion.

 We laughed out loud when I read this question.

Are we simple rehashing and talking about them without doing anything to correct the emotional situations of our life?

There and then I made a plan to figure out how to correct the problem and vowed I would not talk about it unless it was in the form of a solution. I’m not going to tell you an answer immediately appeared but as I write this, not only did it appear it has been implemented.

Seeking answers in innovative ways can solve problems in a more rapid and satisfying manner than just bemoaning the fact that there is a problem and we don’t have a ready answer.

Next week I’ll share a couple of ways I search ‘outside the box’ for the keys to solving sticky and sometimes just ordinary issues.

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