Coyote Balance

Every day, nature is full of offerings that challenge my curiosity.

I notice mundane things, like vultures soaring on air currents, rabbits freeloading in my garden, and even an unwelcome row of tiny ants marching near the kitchen window. I wonder if these things actually are mundane or worthy of note.

I sometimes like to reference my favorite books on nature symbolism for perspective, but mostly, I draw my own conclusions about the things I notice and how they relate to my current situation. Once in a while, nature will toss me a doozy for consideration. My favorite example is the day I pulled into my driveway in the early afternoon and a big healthy coyote was sitting beside the pine trees. She looked right at me with no fear and no desire to move on. I felt like she had been waiting patiently for me to arrive. As I watched from the car, she sat quietly. I pulled up to the garage and turned around. She watched and waited. I sat and wondered.

As my mind raced, I got emotional and felt overwhelmed. I realized how midlife had been smacking me in the face with intermittent waves of hormone-enhanced emotion and overwhelm. At first I laughed, and then I cried. At that moment, the coyote stood up and trotted across the street to the vast open field between my house and the woods where, I imagine, she lives. She paused and looked back at me three times. Finally, she took off across the field and left me to process the awareness that had come from our exchange.

Coyote symbolism is laced with paradox, and ultimately boils down to finding balance. For me, balance is a verb. It is active and precarious, and it is my most important core value. I am deeply grateful for nature’s wisdom and believe that life on the planet is a shared experience. I will continue to stay curious and seek my own balance with a sacred connection to balance in nature.

Story first published in anthology, 365 Soulful Messages by Jodi Chapman. Nov. 2019