July 17th, 2010
One of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, killed over 230,000 people in fourteen countries.
In contrast to the numerous human deaths, the wildlife uncannily suffered almost no casualties.
According to National Geographic:
• Elephants screamed and ran for higher ground.
• Dogs refused to go outdoors.
• Flamingos abandoned their low-lying breeding areas.
• Zoo animals rushed into their shelters and could not be enticed to come back out.
Yesterday I returned from teaching a 5 day comedy improv workshop at the Omega Institute, an educational, personal growth and wellness retreat center in Rhinebeck, New York.
It's a...how do you say... safe place. Even for animals. In the past week, I experienced multiple (skittish) furry and feathered creatures not feeling threatened and utilizing their heightened senses to be sociable.
• Ground hogs were in abundance. And not just their shadows. Up until 6 days ago, I'd never seen one of these "land beavers"( it's OK...I'm giggling too) and now I've been granted permission to stand two feet away from them, share a joint and talk existentialism.
• A gaggle of geese attempted to come visit my improv class in action. Evidently, big fans of "Who's line is it Anyway".
• Even the campus cat was hanging out and not acting like a bitch.
• Magical unicorns flew from the sky and threw sparkly confetti .
*** One of these is an untruth. I know. Like a cat would ever give us the time of day.
Not to go all New Agey on your ass and change my name to Dandelion Kale...but "magic" does happen at the Omega Institute and it oozes with loving, safe and giving energy. The animals got the memo. We get the document too but frequently choose not to read it.
A challenge for us: Let's jump start our intuition and seek guidance from the animals.
I found it very helpful when I asked a groundhog if I should join the Mel Gibson Fan Club.
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