I recently got back from a trip from Ucluelet and Tofino on Vancouver Island. Beautiful little towns filled with lots of nature and beaches. My partner and I did a lot of exploring, hiking, and chasing the incredible sunsets from high up lookout points. But something stayed with me that seemed rather insignificant at the time that ended up being an entryway into some insight I needed for a lingering uncertainty in my life.
When we were walking these beautiful trails I remember moments when I stopped and took notice when I came across a single bird feather lying on the ground. At the time I did not think much of it, I just remember noticing it a bit more than other things in my surrounding. It stood out enough where it led me to pause but then I kept going. It was just a bird feather; nothing out of the ordinary of what you might come across in nature, but for some reason I had an intuitive pull toward it. I also remember having some curiousity about the feather like “is the bird that lost its feather still alive?” “how long has the feather been here?” And again, just continued on the hike.
Sometimes we are not conscious of what our mind or body is seeking answers or healing for. Yet, we might find ourselves orienting back to something that may seem insignificant but actually holds some untapped wisdom. If you notice being oriented to certain themes or images, pause and take note of your initial insights of it as it may be part of your subconscious trying to attract attention in a meaningful way.
What does this feather experience have to do with tapping deeper into our inner wisdom?
The day after we got back, I took to my art journal around 9pm. I didn’t have a plan of what I wanted to do but just knew I wanted to do some art. I had no thought of the feather on the island when I started art journaling.
I chose my altered book (hard cover novel I transformed into an art journal) and got out watercolour paints. Then I just painted splots of colour on the page, putting judgment aside of whether it looks good or not, and just painted. After the paint dried, I didn’t know what it needed next. Perhaps a quote, but a quote wasn’t coming to my mind. So I sifted through my art basket containing a variety of art journal ephemera, papers, stamps, and stickers. I pulled out an envelope that had a bunch of feather ephemera – some big ones, some larger ones; pieces I forgot I had. I pulled out one of the bigger feathers and laid it across the middle of the page that I painted. Seeing the feather placed there just felt right, and the memory of the feather I saw on the island came to my mind’s forefront; it was like a flash image that took me back to that moment.
As I glued the craft feather down and started to reflect, that’s when I knew deeper meaning was there. So I took to my smaller art journal with blank white pages; I drew that same feather across the middle of the page. Then I just wrote, letting words flow through my hand onto the page.
When you are seeking some insight from a deeper part of you, having a dialogue with your art – your drawing, writing, craft, or just an object that you are focusing on, can assist in bringing out more of what’s been sitting in the depths of your subconscious. When observing the art/writing, you could ask:
“What wisdom do you have for me?”
What arose for me as I went through this therapeutic activity was that while a feather is delicate, soft, and fragile, it can fall from great heights, but still land softly; it doesn’t know where the next gust of wind may carry it. Relating this to my life was the reminder to trust in wherever I land and how long I will be there for. And though there will be falls, failures, or treacherous air at times, another gentle breeze will come and swiftly guide me to what I need or where I need to be.
Take home message:
If you are stuck in place where you are not sure what to do, sometimes letting go of the need to have the answer, and instead see what your intuition orients you to. What images draw your attention when you sift through a magazine? Does something keep grasping you in a way that other things don’t – like the feather did for me. If so, stay curious, reflect, write, have a dialogue with that image/object, and let the inner truth come out from there. You may not find direct answers, but you will likely find meaning that will help guide you into a direction that leads you closer to those answers you are searching for.
