Cherry Eye Archives - Owl Medicine: Shamanic Healing

Reprieve

Ah. Do you feel it? A slight ripple of calm, an underlying current, a non-verbal sense of ease encouraging us to take a deep breath for the first time in as long as we can remember. What do we even call it? A reprieve?

Merriam Webster Dictionary gives us this salient definition:

Reprieve. (Noun) (…) 3. : a temporary respite (as from pain or trouble)

Yes, that’s a pretty accurate description of how I felt today. For whatever reason, pretty much from the moment I opened my eyes to right now as I write this, I felt as though the headlock of pain we’ve been forced into lately just dropped a way. For a time, at least. <<Poof>>

If I’m honest, there’s a voice inside that’s naively hoping this is the harbinger of a new day. That it’s more than a simple reprieve; that it’s a new era. Alas, while I may wish it were so, I nevertheless trust the words that come to me, particularly the words that come to me during this sacred time of the day when I set aside everything else and dedicate my attention to my 1111 Devotion.

The word that came was reprieve. And the operative part of the definition that caught my eye (which was also included each of the other resources I checked ), the part I want to ignore but feel constrained to instead highlight? The word temporary.

We’ll Take It

But you know what? Life’s too short to keep ourselves on tenterhooks. Not only is it exhausting to try to remain ever vigilant, it’s also a fool’s errand. It’s better to trust our intuition, grab some joy or peace or simple relief when we can, and give ourselves a chance to recharge our hope batteries.

Things are changing. They are on the precipice of getting better.

It’s possible we’ll still be faced with rage and violence this week from people who’ve been radicalized by DT. But I want to believe that today was an example of the winds of insurrection being hit with the doldrums. Perhaps, if we’re lucky, the wind will soon be permanently out of those sails.

Spartacus Concurs

And so I offer this photo of Spartacus from earlier today. I mentioned the other night that he was bouncing back quite nicely from the shocking appearance of ‘cherry eye,’ and this is my proof.

A little background on this photo: We received a video this morning of one of our ‘Grandcats’ (we have four) stalking and pouncing on an empty paper bag, which Karl and I kept playing over and over. (Yet more proof that we were feeling the playfulness and simple joy of this reprieve.) It felt so great just to laugh.

In the midst of our chuckling, Spartacus, feeling oh-so-much-better than he was feeling last week at this time, started prancing around in circles chasing one of his chew toys. Plopping it in front of me, the message was clear: this reprieve is for all of us to enjoy, Mommy.

Play with me; dirty paws and all.

(T-313)

Tohickon Flow 14 Jan 21 – Photo: L. Weikel

No Escape

There’s so much stress swirling around all of us these days. It’s in the atmosphere, on the news, in the grocery store, on the Capitol steps. It’s bombarding us on our phones, in our homes, and definitely squeezing hospitals all across the country – and around the world. It seems there’s no escape.

But there is. It’s called Nature.

I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir here. Nevertheless. Even if I am, I’m going to repeat myself. Because no matter how vigilant we are about maintaining our balance or taking a break from the news, it can be all too easy to talk ourselves out of it in times like these. Taking a walk, watching the flow of a creek, or sitting on the porch for 15 minutes to watch the sunset can feel entirely inappropriate when viewed through the lens of how dire life can seem at the moment.

Case in Point

Over the weekend, when I wrote about how so many of us are feeling under pressure, Spartacus was also feeling the stress. The very same day my tooth broke, Spartacus woke up with an extreme flare-up of what’s commonly called ‘Cherry Eye.’ I describe it as extreme because he has occasionally sported a red bump in the corner of his eye before, but never was it so huge as it was on Sunday. It was extremely disconcerting to look at him. It almost felt as though he, too, had been feeling the pressure – and while I took my stress out on my tooth, he manifested his where his body was the weakest.

Even worse than how awful it looked was how sad he became. He was totally thrown off his game by losing most of the sight in his eye – and sadly, that’s how large the prolapse was. Even when he slept, his eye wasn’t closing. He barely sniffed at his food. We even took a walk, but in spite of the mild weather, his heart wasn’t in it.

I’m glad to report that the ointment they gave me for his eye worked wonders – even on the bulge as big as it was. He feels so much better now. (I’ll post an ‘after’ photo tomorrow – or soon, at least. I promise!)

Spart’s Cherry Eye – Photo: L. Weikel

Lost My Point

Ha ha – as I sit here, I swear, I’ve lost the point of where I was going with this post. I didn’t intend to write in such detail about Spartacus’s affliction, but there it is. I’ll share it, since it has a happy resolution. I didn’t want to write about it while we were going through it because it’s one thing to write about a broken tooth and quite another to write about your puppy (even if he is 12 years old) looking like he’s been in a war.

I didn’t want to bum any of us out any more than we were already feeling!

I Remember Now

I was writing about the simple joy of being in Nature and how essential it is for all of us to be reminded of that fact, especially as we face these intensely stressful times. I related the story about Spartacus because this afternoon, he and I were hanging out on the porch for a moment as I filled the birdfeeders, and I was filled with gratitude that he was feeling so much better and was shamelessly basking in the sun.

We’ve had a satisfying array of visitors to our feeders, and Karl’s trick of hanging chunks of Irish Spring soap to the feeders seems to have quelled the deer from draining the tubes each night. As I listened to the birds chirping and cheeping in the branches and bushes surrounding the porch, alerting all their friends and neighbors that the two legged was finally refilling the feeders and maybe even putting out some peanuts, I recalled an article I’d read recently about the impact of birdwatching on our happiness.

Just another example of how being in Nature is a balm to our souls.

In spite of all the anxiety we’re feeling over extremism in our lives and the possibility of more violence over the next several days, give yourselves the gift of appreciating the simple, natural, pleasures in life. The cardinals and chickadees. The squirrels and goldfinches. The puppy who can see again, scrounging up shelled peanuts that fall to the ground when you’re filling the peanut coil.

It’s the little things.