How to Take a Lesson from the Turtle
How to take a lesson from the turtle
Recently I helped two turtles safely escape roads with fast moving cars. The first one was a huge gopher tortoise hanging out in the right lane of Highway 19 Southbound coming out of the woods on the West side and heading East - across six lanes of 55+ mph traffic. I couldn’t stop before passing the tortoise, not recognizing what it was at first, but I slammed on my brakes once I recognized what it was and pulled off the road onto the shoulder with my hazard lights flashing. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw lots of cars behind me heading toward the tortoise and I just kept praying “Please don’t hit ‘em, please don’t hit ‘em.” And to my delight, everyone slowed down and/or changed lanes to avoid the gopher tortoise standing in the lane.
Once I saw the last semi change lanes, I flung my car door open and ran (in flip flops of course) to the turtle. I told the tortoise, “Ok, I’m going to pick you up now and get you out of the road and I know I’m supposed to take you in the direction you are going, but that is across six lanes of traffic, and we’re not doing that. Plus, there’s nothing for you over there. (Although, what do I know? I’m sure there are gopher tortoises all over Florida.) Anyway, I’m turning you around and taking you back to where you came from.” I picked them up and took them over to the sidewalk and into the grass beyond as the tortoise pooped on my foot and flip flop. I let them be and cleaned off my foot with whatever I could find in the car and washed everything off thoroughly when I got home, feeling great about my ability to help another species on this planet survive a possibly deadly situation.
Two mornings later, driving East on Halls River Road, just across the bridge, another turtle, this time a yellow-eared slider (thank you Betty for knowing your FL native turtles) was also in the right lane trying to cross the road. Luckily, this is only a two-lane road, and it wasn’t busy that morning, and the one truck behind me stopped and put his flashers on immediately when I did. I jumped out and this time took the turtle in the direction they were going, didn’t get pooped on, and went on my way, waving at the man in the truck behind me to thank him for stopping.
These two turtle saving events and seeing a massive softshell turtle swimming the next day, brought up the lesson of slowing down. Paying attention. There are so many turtles all around lately, and the tourists love seeing them in the water on my kayak and paddleboard tours. They exude peace and contentment, which must be what comes from slowing down.
Manatees elicit a similar response for me when I’m able to watch them in their natural habitat undisturbed, which honestly is not all that easy to do with so many tourists and companies serving them going out to see them every single day.
Some thoughts on what it means when turtle/tortoise shows up from the handbook of Animal Spirit Guides by Steven D. Farmer, Ph.D.: “You’ve been going much too fast for too long, so slow down and pace yourself. Take time to nurture yourself and simply observe and feel your emotions. By moving through your life more slowly and attentively, you’ll discover a great deal of wisdom emerging from unexpected sources that you’d otherwise miss by being in a hurry.”
I also never thought of a Tortoise as my power animal, but: “People naturally turn to you to help them out because you’re such a great listener... You need a stable environment and a strong connection to Mother Earth or else you’ll find yourself prone to mood swings.”
So how then, do we slow down when life seems to be going too fast all around us?
Here’s some of what I’m discovering:
Getting grounded - whatever that looks like in the moment. Sometimes all I can do is sniff an essential oil blend. Sometimes I can move outside and put my bare feet on the ground. Sometimes I can take a deep cleansing breath. Sometimes I can name things around me, engaging my senses in the present moment. Sometimes it’s splashing cold water on my face, or diving in to some cool water. Sometimes I can practice mindful movement, or shake out whatever I’m holding onto. It depends on my environment and my memory which one of these I will rely upon at any given moment.
Getting quiet - finding some space away from all the noise. Not worrying about watching or listening to the next thing, or habitually scrolling. Maybe not even listening to music. Also, no texting or being on the phone in general. There are SO MANY distractions everywhere. Sometimes we just need a break. One of the turtle messages was: “Spend a few hours or longer in solitude, away from other people and the usual noise that surrounds you.”
One of my favorites, Lee Harris, reminds us:
“there is no such thing as perfection; there is no need for self-judgment or shame. We are all learning as we go, doing the best we can, on a planet that has many wounds and also much light.”
His guidance is similar to what I follow and teach in that we need to:
rest
connect
feel and live our purpose - expressing creativity
ground
and love ourselves and share that love with the world - a sentiment shared by a dear friend of mine and warrior of light - Parker Otwell Roe.
This is my way of expressing myself, thank you for being here for it. I imagine a world where each of us feels not only allowed to be who we are as sensitive beings, but honored and celebrated. Creating a full life that feels aligned, flowing, and free is up to each of us. We can start by honoring ourselves, our needs, and our history and from there creating what we want to see in the world around us.
Rather than resisting what is and fighting against the powers that be, what would it look like to create something entirely new to catch the fallout from all the broken systems that are crumbling? I imagine it like a safety net - here we are building this thing that will allow life to continue in a new way once the old world is no longer functional.
To me this looks like a world where humans, animals, plants, all of nature, coexist with mutual respect and understanding. Where we grow our own food, share responsibility with our friends, family, and neighbors for taking care of ourselves and each other, learn from ancient and recent history and combine resources to build each other up. No starving, no jails, more rehabilitation, more compassion, and more turtle-saving. I am going to work on embodying the qualities of a turtle ever more and finding my own rhythm amongst the flow of life. Care to join me?!
All photos taken by either myself, Rebecca LaPole, or my wife, Sara Newman. All rights reserved.