I relate so much to this story. Thank you for sharing. 🐢 When I live like a tortoise, I feel better, find inspiration, have time to think and be creative. My hare 🐇 instinct is strong though. I really have to be thoughtful and intentional about when I use my hare power to make things happen. I guess the optimal blend of the two happens when I have plenty of tortoise time and then use my hare energy to put whatever I’m working on out in the world. Then I guess I become a bear and need to hibernate before beginning again. 🐻 💤
What a beautiful way to think about our inner selves 💕 thank you Brooke. I think I’ll be thinking about what my animals are probably an owl (sensible) and an otter (playful)!
I love this!! Thinking about what we feed inside ourselves is such a helpful concept and something I have really been working on (to varying degrees of success) in the midst of my "Second Act" (as Jane Fonda would say). It is definitely a long-term project! We have lots of cottontail rabbits in our neighborhood right now and as I watch them, it is clear that I am naturally a hare...both in that enthusiastic, do-it-all way, but also in the way that they freeze in fear at the slightest hint of change or threat. My spouse is a most tortois-y tortoise (with a definite tendency toward bear-like hibernation, as well). Luckily we mostly complement each other rather than clash!
This is a bit of a twist on the topic, but I wish I had thought of the "feeding animals within yourself" language last night when talking with my sons. I thought that one of them had said something very hurtful to a classmate, but it later became clear that my son had just thought the hurtful words in his mind, not said them aloud. I grew up in a religious tradition where even your thoughts could be sins, so I have always tried to counter that and told my sons that "there are no bad thoughts, only bad actions." But the truth is that our thoughts do matter, at least in the sense that they can affect the way we perceive and move through the world around us. I only did a fumbling job of explaining that nuance to my boys last night, but I think I will try again with this metaphor. We all have bad thoughts sometimes and that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you, but what parts of yourself are you going to feed? The part that assumes someone was rude on purpose and is clearly a complete jerk who should be ostracized? Or the part that assumes the rudeness was accidental, or the person was having a tough day, and maybe they could use some compassion? The part you feed is probably the part that will get to speak first over time! Such a helpful metaphor!
While reading this, I found I related to what you said about the hare. I'm wanting to be intentional in my days but I keep wanting to do it all and all at once. Being reactive in my actions and knowing I need to pause. I love what you said about loving both the hare and the tortoise, that you don't need to feed one or the other. This is something I need to reconsider. I've always had the mindset about which wolf I am feeding today. I'd love to decide which are my animals to love.
I relate so much to this story. Thank you for sharing. 🐢 When I live like a tortoise, I feel better, find inspiration, have time to think and be creative. My hare 🐇 instinct is strong though. I really have to be thoughtful and intentional about when I use my hare power to make things happen. I guess the optimal blend of the two happens when I have plenty of tortoise time and then use my hare energy to put whatever I’m working on out in the world. Then I guess I become a bear and need to hibernate before beginning again. 🐻 💤
What a beautiful way to think about our inner selves 💕 thank you Brooke. I think I’ll be thinking about what my animals are probably an owl (sensible) and an otter (playful)!
I love this!! Thinking about what we feed inside ourselves is such a helpful concept and something I have really been working on (to varying degrees of success) in the midst of my "Second Act" (as Jane Fonda would say). It is definitely a long-term project! We have lots of cottontail rabbits in our neighborhood right now and as I watch them, it is clear that I am naturally a hare...both in that enthusiastic, do-it-all way, but also in the way that they freeze in fear at the slightest hint of change or threat. My spouse is a most tortois-y tortoise (with a definite tendency toward bear-like hibernation, as well). Luckily we mostly complement each other rather than clash!
This is a bit of a twist on the topic, but I wish I had thought of the "feeding animals within yourself" language last night when talking with my sons. I thought that one of them had said something very hurtful to a classmate, but it later became clear that my son had just thought the hurtful words in his mind, not said them aloud. I grew up in a religious tradition where even your thoughts could be sins, so I have always tried to counter that and told my sons that "there are no bad thoughts, only bad actions." But the truth is that our thoughts do matter, at least in the sense that they can affect the way we perceive and move through the world around us. I only did a fumbling job of explaining that nuance to my boys last night, but I think I will try again with this metaphor. We all have bad thoughts sometimes and that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you, but what parts of yourself are you going to feed? The part that assumes someone was rude on purpose and is clearly a complete jerk who should be ostracized? Or the part that assumes the rudeness was accidental, or the person was having a tough day, and maybe they could use some compassion? The part you feed is probably the part that will get to speak first over time! Such a helpful metaphor!
I love this! We do live so either or. why can’t we be a bit of all!.
Omg I love this analogy so much. Bless you and the washing up inspiration time!
Brooke, you’re here on Substack! Hooray! 🤍
While reading this, I found I related to what you said about the hare. I'm wanting to be intentional in my days but I keep wanting to do it all and all at once. Being reactive in my actions and knowing I need to pause. I love what you said about loving both the hare and the tortoise, that you don't need to feed one or the other. This is something I need to reconsider. I've always had the mindset about which wolf I am feeding today. I'd love to decide which are my animals to love.