Life Lessons from Hedgehog
It’s been a rough year for Hedgehog. While she doesn’t keep her ear to the news, she’s got her belly to the ground. In contact with Gaia, listening to her beating heart, feeling her breath, her vibration. Gaia’s hurting.
If you, too, are worried about Gaia, Hedgehog has some life lessons to share with you.
This is when hibernation comes in handy. Sometimes you need to retreat from the world. Go into your center. There’s work to do, but right now, it’s time to rest up. There are battles ahead. Always better to go face-to-face when Hedgehog is clear-headed. When she’s given herself the time to detach and be objective. To look at things anew.
As Hedgehog comes out of her slumber, from a place of not-doing, she must quickly find food—while remaining vigilant. There are many threats to a small creature in the world she inhabits. Her world of choice, when she can still find it, is the hedgerow. Hedgerows define boundaries. They provide the shelter needed for her retreat as she goes about her business gathering food, mating, and creating more hoglets in a quest to keep her world in balance.
Hedgerows are a diverse world of brambles and vines, interspersed with Hawthorn and Blackthorn and Hazel trees. They provide shelter against wind and rain, and the owls and hawks with their keen eyes watching from above. Hedgerows also provide nourishment for the interconnected—and sometimes adversarial—communities that make her home. For Hedgehog, she’s on the lookout for juicy berries, crunchy seeds, squiggly worms, and the butterflies who share her space as she keeps her senses alert to the creatures who would do her harm. Including her fellow hedgehogs.
Coming out of her dormancy, the detachment she gains during hibernation gives her the objectivity to assess the nature and direction of the threats she faces—on the ground and in the air. As Hedgehog travels by night, she can’t see much, but she keenly listens to the sounds in the dark. She can smell trouble when it's coming.
As all warriors for survival know, the best way to defend oneself is with the least energy required to meet the threat. Don’t waste energy. Hedgehog’s first line of defense, as a tiny warrior with few options, is to puff herself up, letting her enemies think she is bigger than she is. Fake it until you make it. If that isn’t enough, get loud. Hedgehog shrieks and hollers to drive her enemies away. As a last resort, when the threat is near and overpowering, she curls up in a ball and shields herself with her hard-as-nails quills—a strategy that serves her well.
Hedgehog has healthy boundaries. While she knows how to defend herself, she also knows when to open up and put her soft belly to the ground. She listens to Mother Earth. She feels the vibration to help her know who she wants to take into her life and who she wants to keep out.
One neighbor who doesn’t seduce her with his entreaties to let him in, is Snake. Gaia has protected her with the gift of immunity to his venom.
In spite of living in a world of bounty—in both what feeds her and what would feed on her—Hedgehog doesn’t ever want to give up on her sense of play, her ability to feel joy, to stay connected to her mother, Gaia.
As we face a new year that’s got all the earmarks of mighty challenges, and at times unsettling transformation, Hedgehog has lessons to share.
When you come out of your well-earned hibernation, give yourself what you need. Make yourself comfortable, enjoy good food, keep your body moving, pace yourself. Maintain good boundaries—know who to take in and who to keep out. Don’t let your senses be overwhelmed by the noise and smell. Use no more energy than you need to defend yourself. Save it for when you really need it. Each day, give to your body, your mind, and your spirit. Play. Feel joy. Do that while remaining fully alert. When you need to, rest. It’s a long year ahead.
To view our Hedgehog collection, click here.
