Dear Leopard,

A-ZAnimals.com

You seem lost in thought..and I feel like I am interrupting you..forgive me. I know so little about you. I just read on A-Z Animals that you are incredible at climbing trees, and that in doing so.. you can see any incoming prey or danger.  You are also a fantastic swimmer!!

 I also learned that there are 30 different sub species of your family and that most are considered to be endangered or critically endangered, with some on the verge of extinction.  This news breaks my heart. I can't imagine how it must feel to live each day with that reality! For me as a human it would be like facing death on a daily basis.. I'm not sure I could handle that! 

With so little knowledge of you on my part you have every reason not to want to converse with me. I am late in coming to know you and the rest of our family in the natural world but I enter into this conversation with the deepest respect for you. I truly would like to hear what you would say to me...if you wish.

Dear Assunta,
A little knowledge can go a long way and I appreciate your efforts to get to know me and my family. Your sharing our conversation with other humans could perhaps limit the mass extinction that my family faces.
It is not easy to walk each day with the realization that not only could it be my last day but the last for my entire family. 

To have been given the gift of life and then to have it taken away through no act of ones own is very hard to deal with; and yes.. you can sense some anger in me for the lack of respect and willingness to work with our family and all the families of the natural world, that humans display. 

No one likes to feel devalued or unwanted, or to be treated like an object strictly for your enjoyment. Remember when you saw the picture of Giraffe in the small square enclosure of a zoo?  You wondered what he/she might be feeling and if he/she would like to be free of the fenced in space?

Why does Giraffe have no say in how he/she lives life?  You humans speak strongly about rights and rights are valuable.  Why is it therefore, that we of the natural world, young and old, have no rights?  Any rights that we might seem to have are dictated by the needs of humans.

I want to live... I want my family to live.. to grow up and become the fullness of themselves. Why does that not seem to matter?  Would it not be to the good of all of us, to recognize our dependence on one another?
There is a balance that needs to be kept if life is to thrive, and each of us in being who we are contribute to maintaining that balance!  
How often have you said..Mother Earth does not need humans to survive.. She will make the changes needed for growth and healing.  It is the human family that will not survive with out Mother Earth!!   Sadly and realistically, my family and your human family are endangered!!

As I said, I want to live and I want my family to not only live but to thrive!  Is that not what you want as well?
Together, with mutual respect and mutual rights to life, we can share our gifts and in so doing create the healing balance of life that will bring wholeness to All Our Relations!

Dear Leopard,
Thank you for your honesty and your wisdom.   This sharing has touched me deeply.  I pray that we humans will not only hear you but act to honor your rights and the rights of all our sisters and brothers in the natural world.

Dear rippling blue water,

Thank you beautifulfreepictures.com

With the help of gentle light, soft shadows and the golden hew of mountain in the background you speak to me of calm and peace, and that is what I am searching for tonight.

I almost chuckled as I began to write as I realized that it took a combined effort of family members to bring the peace that I spoke of .  Each of you are beautiful in your own ways and bring peace in your own ways, yet ... together there is a deepening of that peace.  You remind me that .. yes we are alone..yet we are also together.. and I tend to forget that all to often.

Your gentle surface ripples, speak of unknown activity even as you give the appearance of calm. There is more going on within you that is not visible to the human eye.  So like us humans, when we can appear calm on the outside, with much going on within.

I have a hard time "being truly at peace" when so much is stirring within me!  The needs and pain of  All Our Relations tug at my heart and drain my spirit.  How do we bring together so many differing views to meet the urgent needs of our family?
Is it possible to truly be at peace and at the same time address the web of issues and concerns among us?

What would you say to me dear Water?  I truly need your wisdom.

Dear Assunta,
First of all, I'm glad that you can find peace in my presence and the family that surrounds me.. that is your/our first clue to having peace.. knowing we are not alone.. as you said.. we are alone yet we are also together.  At no time are you alone.. The Energy of Love envelopes you both within and without!!  It is when we forget that vital connection that fear can enter and drain our energy.

There are many urgent needs and there are many ways of meeting those needs..the difficulty is finding the common good...that is something that the human community has thought less and less about. You are still very caught up in Independence and competition which moves you farther and farther away from what is best for all concerned.  

You have used the phrase "decisions should be made by those most affected by them" and that is a process that can lead to the common good.  That is not the case in your Congress right now.. yet things can change.  You want immediate action on critical issues and that seems fair, yet in order for that to happen it has to be the will of the people and that takes time. 

Be the ripple that stirs the water...patience..persistence...alone and together..can move more than you know. 
Too much too fast does not always bring the best results...! You must know and understand the long range ramifications of your choices if there is to be real healing and growth. 
Ah yes.. don't spread yourself thin trying to do more.  Know your gifts and talents and focus your energy on what truly speaks to your heart.  Trying to do too much limits rather than helps.

Be the ripple that stirs the water...and as you ripple be at peace, how?
 Holding the awareness that you are not alone, focusing your energy and engaging others whose gifts and talents, like mountain and light, can add their unique dimension to the situation being addressed.

Dear water, thank you so much!  You have shown me that true wisdom can also be "common sense" and I don't often equate the two.