Coyote Medicine
Yesterday, I took Ellie to our favorite spot to have a walk in the woods. We love it because it is a huge piece of land with forests, hills, wetlands, and open fields, and we often don’t see anyone else while we’re out, which means I get to let Ellie off-leash. She is never as happy as she is there leaping through the snow like a little bunny.
Ellie on a past walk in the snow with my husband, living her best life.
This particular trip, we passed by a woman ending her walk just as we were beginning. She also had a dog with her, and she let us know that she had seen a coyote close to the trail. I thanked her for letting me know, and I continued on. A part of me knew it was always a possibility to see wildlife here – the big beautiful space isn’t just a sanctuary for people looking to escape crowds – but it was different knowing that there was a potentially dangerous animal on the trail that I would be walking. I kept going for a bit longer, a little trepidatious and edging into uncomfortable hypervigilance. I decided I should flip my witch switch and practice some metacognition. I asked myself what I would tell a friend to do in this situation, and it was clear right away: I would tell a friend to leave and walk somewhere else today. I didn’t have anything to protect me or Ellie if we stumbled upon the coyote, and I certainly wouldn’t be able to outrun it. Sure, I don’t want to let fear run my life, but it would cost me nothing to leave and find another place to walk. I turned around.
I don’t think Ellie would scare away a coyote.
While I was heading back to the parking lot, I ran into another walker, a young woman named Maria.* She was walking alone, and I relayed the message about the coyote and told her I was going to go to another park. Without skipping a beat, she said, “I have pepper spray – do you want to walk together?” It was such an act of generosity, and also quite possibly the best case scenario for both of us; we’d be making noise chatting, which would likely deter a coyote from coming near. We elected to walk together, and as it turns out, Maria is in biomedical engineering – she is a natural problem solver indeed!
During our walk, we found many common interests – hiking and a love of nature, an appreciation of time spent with family, a desire to try new things. We talked about our work – I shared with her what I do as a witch and she talked about the possible next steps she is contemplating for continuing her education. We talked about the importance of community, of the value of varied perspectives and approaches to the world and the ways being part of a community may even help us live longer, as has proven to be true in Blue Zone communities with high numbers of centenarians . It wasn’t lost on me that the little community of three we had formed on the fly was quite possibly keeping us all safe from a coyote in real time.
In our travels, we passed two other women, each walking alone. Maria told the first about the coyote, and I told the second. It got me thinking about the right balance of informing vs. spreading fear, and also of being informed vs. doom scrolling, both topics at the top of my mind recently given the state of the world. As I reflect on this experience now, I wonder if the right balance of informing vs spreading fear, or of being informed vs. doom scrolling may be secondary to the simple question of how we support each other in community. What if I had informed Maria about the coyote, AND had been ready right away to offer to walk with her? What if we consumed the news and informed others with the intent to support them, ever keeping an eye out for the tipping point at which we may descend from impassioned ally ready to lend a hand into despairing over-burdened news consumer and fear monger? What if we all acted in such a way as to make our priority the growing and strengthening of our community?
I am so grateful for Maria’s quick thinking in response to the coyote problem – she saw a solution I hadn’t yet, and THIS is one of the many reasons why communities are so important; we all have a different perspective to offer, and we find the best answers together.
I say all of this as I lament the way I parted with Maria. Instead of telling her how awesome she is and setting up a winter hike to do together, I cowered. I am still grappling with my own sense of self-worth as a witch (that witch wound runs deep!). Maria is a beautiful, brilliant, cool person, and I worried that she, as an engineer and scientist wouldn’t want to befriend a witch. I offered her my Instagram handle, an attempt on my part to show her my content and hopefully also that I’m not totally crazy, but she didn’t have social media. I left her with my business card and suggested she text me if she wanted to do a winter hike. What I wish I had done was be brave and own my truth and say, “Maria, I think you’re totally rad – let’s plan our next adventure! What’s your number?” I wish I had felt confident that my perspective might be as valuable as hers, and that we could carry on and strengthen the little community we started that day. Fortunately, self-reflection is a powerful tool for growth ;)
As we think ahead to what this next chapter of human history will look like, I am hopeful that we will find our strength together, that we will connect in community through our curiosity, compassion, and mutual appreciation, and that we won’t allow our self-doubt to prevent us from reaching out. Let us remember always the gifts we bring to the table, knowing that our perspective is different from others’, and that’s exactly why it’s important. As long as our intent is to love, support, and care for each other, to acknowledge the beauty in the diversity of our collective lived experiences and perspectives, we’ll be just fine.
The coyote we didn’t see.
You may be wondering about the coyote at this point - I love that curious mind of yours! Well, we never actually spotted it, but it was there with us in spirit. After the walk and after finishing the first part of this post, I looked up the symbolism of the coyote, and it’s pretty compelling.
According to Myra Logan of essenceofsymbols.com, the coyote has several spiritual meanings, all of which are spot-on relevant to the story. The coyote is a sign of intelligence and a nudge “to think outside the box and use creative solutions. The coyote brings the gift of cleverness and outsmarting challenges in your path.” It shares a message of adaptability: “the coyote reminds you to shift perspectives and behaviors to thrive in new conditions.” The coyote tells us to “nurture [our] inner strength,” “to rely more on [our] gut feelings and inner knowing,” and, I kid you not, to “be willing to cooperate and work together for the greater good. Community leads to flourishing. Let the coyote remind [us] of the power of united relationships.” Well said, Mother Nature.
Questions for you to ponder, if it feels right:
What is the balance point of informing vs fear-mongering?
What is the balance point of keeping oneself informed vs doom scrolling?
How do we draw together to form our communities?
How do we feel confident in our own value so we don’t shy away from opportunities to connect?
*Maria, I think you’re totally rad – if you ever read this, let’s go for a hike!
