Sharks are friends, not monsters

With the start of July comes the next theme in my year ahead. This month is heralded by the Shark, a misunderstood predator of the great ocean. The media is ripe with depictions of sharks that make them out to be bloodthirsty, people-eating monsters. If you approach the Shark as a guide from this perspective you will be surely frightened and apprehensive of what they have to offer. However, the Shark is at home in the Water element and like unacknowledged or ignored emotions, that is where the Shark is truly dangerous. If we hide from the feelings, the worries, the thing we KNOW we need to look at and face, then the fear grows. It gets bigger. Until finally, we have ourselves in a place of complete terror.

But what if we shifted that tendency? That pattern?

What if we stared the Shark in the face and asked it,

"What do you need from me?What can I offer you?What can we do in order to embrace the fear and this scary feeling?"

You might find then, that the Shark is just a fish. A mysterious, large, awe-inspiring fish. And like all fish, they just want to be embraced within the Water element they call home.

I had some tears as I wrote this and reflected on what the Shark meant for the month ahead. The message that I channelled from my guides, my ancestors, really hit home. And I hope that you also feel some gentle love and guidance from this message I received.

Try asking the parts of you that are hurting, that you are scared of:

"What do you need from me?

What can I offer you?

What can we do in order to embrace the fear and this scary feeling?"

Just to see how they respond to your Self when you offer intentional space and curious, gentle care.

In pursuit of collective revival and embodied connections,

Maverick Lumen; They/佢

I am currently working, playing, and living on the traditional unceded territory of the sq̓əc̓iy̓aɁɬ təməxʷ (Katzie), Kwantlen, Semiahmoo, S’ólh Téméxw (Stó:lō), and sc̓əwaθenaɁɬ təməxʷ (Tsawwassen) peoples. This is also part of the traditional marine territory of the Hul’qumi’num Treaty Group, which represents several Indigenous groups covering Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, and the lower Fraser River. I am a mixed-race settler who integrates the teachings of the Indigenous people I learn from to decolonize my work and self. Find out whose land you're on here.

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