Sometimes in the middle of the night the monsters come out and dance through my mind. Last night was one of those nights. I’ve learned not to take them seriously. I’ve learned that their visit is meant to inspire gratitude. Rather than fight, forgive. Rather than run, turn and look.
I’ve always felt deeply connected to birds of prey, especially hawks. Many years ago, during an “art as transformation” class, an elder came to teach us how to make medicine shields. We gathered and designed our symbols, bent willow, stretched hide. I was visited by a hawk as I walked the mountain so the sun side of my shield includes a hawk. I keep it in my studio.
There’s a hawk in our neighborhood. We know it’s around when the crows explode in alarm. To see the hawk, follow the crows’ relentless assault.
While planting pampas grass against the fence, Kerri gasped and whispered, “Turn around slowly.” Before I could reposition, the hawk disappeared. It had perched on the fence above our heads. A ghost. No crow alarm. Kerri and the hawk looked each other in the eye. “It was huge!” she said.
Moments later, the planting complete, the hawk flew through and landed in the neighbor’s tree. Squirrels froze in place. The crows, sleeping sentinels, awoke. The alarm went out. The hawk paid it no heed.
A visit. A monster in the dreams of squirrels and chipmunks, I felt nothing but awe. The hawk remained in the tree for a long time. We looked at it. It looked at us. Gratitude.
read Kerri’s blogpost about THE HAWK
take flight/this part of the journey © 1998 kerri sherwood
Filed under: Art, Gratitude, KS Friday | Tagged: album - this part of the journey, artistry, composer, crows, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, forgiveness, Gratitude, hawk, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, medicine shield, monsters, musician, story, studio melange, symbol, symbols, take flight, the melange, this part of the journey, transformation, visitation, yamaha artist, yamaha recording artist |
The Direction of Intention 
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