Catching Up
I have been recovering from an unbelievably busy summer. I was away too much doing the things within my family circle that I thought would make a difference and much to my surprise, they didn’t. I was met with resistance. So I’ve decided to pull back now and do things within my immediate family that I know are appreciated and will make a difference. It has been refreshing to get back to work and make some changes with the things that I am doing. I decided that I would have some fun with decals and make one for a cup for my husband’s birthday that is coming up this fall.
Life has been moving at such a fast pace in the last little while and I really have the need to slow everything down. I have been spending a lot of time outside in the last couple of days. I really like to pay attention to what goes on around even when I am doing work that doesn’t require a lot of my attention. Two days ago, a praying mantis landed next to me. I had no idea that they could fly and yesterday one flew right up to me and landed on my shirt while I was standing. I am always intrigued by the meaning of such chance encounters. What I discovered was that they are symbols for stillness.
The mantis comes to us when we need peace, quiet and calm in our lives. Usually the mantis makes an appearance when we’ve flooded our lives with so much business, activity, or chaos that we can no longer hear the still small voice within us.
After observing this creature for any length of time you can see why the symbolism of the praying mantis deals with stillness and patience. The mantis takes her time, and lives her life at her own silent pace. The praying mantis also symbolizes awareness, creativity, patience, mindfulness, balance & intuition.
These traits have lead the mantis to be a symbol of meditation and contemplation. In fact, in China, the mantis has long been honored for her mindful movements.
The mantis never makes a move unless she is 100% positive it is the right thing for her to do. This is a message to us to contemplate and be sure our minds and souls all agree together about the choices we are making in our lives.
Overwhelmingly in most cultures the mantis is a symbol of stillness. As such, she is an ambassador from the animal kingdom giving testimony to the benefits of meditation, and calming our minds.
An appearance from the mantis is a message to be still, go within, meditate, get quite and reach a place of calm. It may also a sign for you to be more mindful of the choices you are making and confirm that these choices are congruent.
