so a squirrel spoke to me
Let's start with a disclaimer. No I was not under the influence of anyyything when I encountered the squirrel nor am I under the influence of anything as I recount the events in this post (don't do drugs kids). Anywho, I had gone out for a long walk last Saturday. The weather was crisp, refreshing and it showed signs of potential rain. Basically perfect weather. Despite being a summer baby, I prefer a winter day or a mildly rainy day over full sun. Not the point, so I went down around the neighborhood then down a trail. I hadn't been down this trail in almost a year and a half. The path was a little muddy and lined with white and mauve flowers that gave off a calming scent. I found a bench halfway, did some squats, changed the playlist and kept moving towards the bridge. From there, I could SEE happy dogs roaming leach-less with giant sticks in their mouths. And all I could HEAR was the wind in the trees above me and the water beneath the bridge. I leaned against the bridge to rest my legs and watched the flow from beneath me. I closed my eyes. I closed my eyes and listened. Then I took the biggest exhale I've taken ALL DAMN YEAR.
as I did that, a thin black squirrel appeared near the end of the bridge. It paused and looked at me. It actually looked at me. Unafraid. With some sort of nut in it's mouth and his head tilted to the side almost analyzing me, it said...
Squirrel: are you serious?
me: huh?
Squirrel: yes, you
me: ...
Squirrel: get over yourself already!
Squirrel: you walk around here like you need a release from your "miserable" life when all you have to do is get over yourself
me: *wipes eyes*
Squirrel: you're life doesn't suck nor is it complicated or boring or out of order, you make it those things when you spiral and stay fixated on what you THINK is wrong. Then you spend all weekend labelling it, diagnosing it, tracing it back to when and where it all started going wrong for you.
me: *checks to see if anyone else is witnessing this*
Squirrel: Go home. Go home and forgive. Go home and move on. Go home and make mistakes. And go home and make a plan.
Squirrel: Truth is, you're doing grea-
me: Thank yo-
Squirrel: Don't interrupt me
me: ...
Squirrel: Self-awareness, self-actualization, conscience thinking, dreams, love, music, love for music is part of all your human-ness, use it!
me: *nods*
Squirrel: you don't have to eat boring nuts all your life and try not to get hit by a car every 5 seconds. So enjoy that fact that you are human. And if you temporarily mess it up, you're not the only human on the planet and you can't be the only one messing it up.
me: *wipes a tear*
Squirrel: And I don't want to see your whiny sorry a** on my bridge again!
It really was a vulgar squirrel.