Taking Life in Stride

Taking Life in Stride

Through rustling leaves 
through waving fields, 
Dainty swaying graceful 
against the sky they are etched…

“Wisdom comes when Balance 
between head and heart is stretched

With eyes steady on the horizon, 
our stride is great!
Whether we are contemplative 
or merely puzzled, 
light and dark dapple us 
in their grand debate 

We all move 
through awkwardness
to grace 
Listen!
Live as only you can, 
and Truth is embraced 

Silence is golden 
with four feet firmly planted 
we may soar to heights where
from every direction 
even tomorrow may be seen

Feasting 
where smaller souls might starve 
Wrap your spirit blue tongue 
around each thorny consideration 
Stand tall but 
Bend rather than break 
Like a camel savoring the first drink 
after a long journey
Vulnerability 
is a part of survival


Stand tall
See far
Shun complacency
Trust your own intuition
Be candid
Ossicones like antennae
receiving Divine messages
Live true 
that powerful visions 
will be granted 
Gentle and balanced 
we live in freedom serene 
Feed from the highest wisdom
 on Life’s great tree 
that you too 
may learn to live like me!"

For those new to the game, each poem is inspired by a Teacher found in Nature; a star, stone, animal, plant etc that holds lessons of Wisdom for us. Can you guess who is singing today? Congrats to Mike Dovers, Shay, Desert Dreamer, Jaguarwombyn and Jan Neavill Hersh for naming this Teacher!

“Whosoever wishes to know about the world must learn about it in its particular details. Knowledge is not intelligence. In searching for the truth be ready for the unexpected. Change alone is unchanging. The same road goes both up and down. The beginning of a circle is also its end. Not I, but the world says it: all is one. And yet everything comes in season.” Heraklietos of Ephesos 



“Movement is a medicine for creating change in a person’s physical, emotional, and mental states.” Carol Welch 


“It's difficult to be an evil herbivore. I am an evil giraffe, and I shall eat more leaves from this tree then perhaps I should, so that other giraffes may die. "~ Eddie Izzard 

Giraffe is the tallest mammal and the largest ruminant in the world. Males stand about 19 feet tall and females around 17 feet. Their ability to see so far while remaining firmly planted upon the earth indicates that Giraffe people also have the ability to see ahead and in all directions. Giraffe people excel at intuitive leaps and thinking outside the box, and are often powerful clairvoyants. Like other ruminants (deer, cattle, sheep, goats, etc), Giraffes chew and regurgitate their cud as part of the digestive process. This indicates a need to take time in digesting new information, as well as the general input sensitive Giraffe people receive from the Universe around them. 

Giraffes, once called cameleopards, are very unique creatures. Like camels, they can go for long periods without drinking (something like two weeks!), and Acacia leaves, which make up most of a giraffe’s diet, have a high water content. Giraffes are at their most unbalanced and vulnerable while bending low to drink, or curled around themselves while sleeping on the ground. 

Giraffes actually need very little sleep too. In fact, they have the smallest sleep requirement of any mammal. They sleep only as little as 10 minutes or as much as two hours over a 24 hour period! These qualities indicate that they too typically run well on less sleep than the average. Giraffe people are at their most unbalanced and vulnerable when they take their eyes off the horizon, when they let down their guard to relax, and when they participate in emotional events or behaviors. 

When a giraffe is born, they are dropped from a height just over 6' from their, hopefully, standing mother. Mother's giving birth while sitting risk kinking the necks of their calves. Being dropped like this does them no harm, in fact it snaps the umbilical chord, helps them tear the amniotic sack and the impact on the Earth is what starts their hearts. Giraffe people tend to be "born with their eyes open" as the saying goes, seeing and understanding more than one so young should. Trauma at an early age, or perhaps a mantle of responsibility assumed at too young an age is common.

Giraffes have long necks. Their heads are typically about 2 meters, 6'5" or so, above their hearts which have to combat gravity just to make sure the brain gets enough oxygen and blood flow. Giraffes need to have healthy boundaries, especially between them and those they are closest to, because if they are not careful, they will end up with stress related health issues, digestive disorders, high blood pressure, etc. They need to remember that they themselves are just as worthy of the time, care, consideration, etc. that they would so readily give to others. Clearing and protecting the Heart Chakra is helpful. A giraffe's heart is not really much bigger compared to most mammals rather it has a thicker  muscle on the left ventricle. This generates enough force to fight gravity. The left is our receptive, our feminine and typically more giving/sacrificing side. Being empathetic can be a double-edged sword. 

Personally, I love swords, it is just that I have also seen a lot of people swinging both real and preverbal ones that they clearly had no understanding that it could cut both ways. A giraffe's quicker heart rate compared to other animals of their size, combined with their altered heartbeat allows the heart lightly more time to fill with blood between heartbeats for an overall heart of greater efficiency. Giraffe people also need to remember to give themselves a little time and distance for thought before speaking their minds. They are great Teachers to combine with lessons from other Nature Teachers for the unique heartfelt perspective they bring. 

Giraffes can appear both graceful and awkward. They can wrap themselves into an amazingly small package when laying down, and when they rise from this position to their full height, the transformation is most startling. Giraffes are not Territorial creatures and their herds are loosely associate, constantly changing. A given herd may be made up of any mix of bachelors, males, females, young or elders at any time, nor are there are specific leaders. Balanced Giraffe people are sociable, and not exclusive. 

Playful spirits, they love a good laugh, are not afraid of looking silly, but when humor becomes too aggressive, that may be a sign that Giraffe's long Throat Chakra needs some attention. They often require less sleep and like to spend their time creatively browsing through inspirations and expression; their natural restlessness does not necessarily translate into nervous behavior or a drive to work though. Just a need for motion, and a bit of the explorer coming out perhaps. At turns light and dark, introverted and extroverted, Giraffe moves through both forest and field in contemplation.

Giraffe people treasure individuality and creativity, but are not given to extroverted displays. They often feel that their closest relationship is with their children, and they are very loving parents who are not distressed by their children’s independence. For all their individuality, Giraffes are herd animals though… it’s just that a giraffe is comfortable at distances of a 1/2 mile from other giraffes in their herd! 

Giraffe people like personal space, enjoy silence, and know that everyone moves through stages of clumsiness before they become graceful. Movement is good therapy for Giraffe people; dance, martial arts, or some form of exercise helps to keep them grounded, so that they may progress spiritually. Long believed to make no substantial sounds, Giraffe’s silence is reminder to keep our ears open and our own mouths closed. It was recently observed by zookeepers that giraffes hum to each other during the night! A low frequency sound, around 92 hertz, it is just audible to us without aid. Assumed to be how they keep track of each other in the dark, giraffe humming has the potential to be a rich communication tool... or it could be more involuntary like snoring. I feel this is Giraffe's reminder that there is always more going on than we assume at first glance. 

Water is the first Medicine and the greatest gift to Life as we know it. Giraffe reminds us to be respectful of life-giving water, to conserve, to use what we take most efficiently, and also to understand the Balance needed in life when we look at this element within our own lives. Giraffe people are sensitive to begin with, for example, and indulging ourselves in overly emotional behavior is an easy destructive trap to fall into. The giraffe’s 18" long blue or black tongue is specially designed for gathering leaves from the thorny Acacia tree. It is believed that the blue coloring protects their tongues from the sun as they gather their 75 lbs of food per day from the highest branches of the trees around them. 

Blue is also the color that symbolizes the element of water, the Spirit world, spiritual lessons, truth, psychic powers, moderation and peace; all of which are important to Giraffe people. Black is the color of wisdom, life, death, balance and mystery. Are we saying too much, or to the wrong people? Are we remaining silent when we should speak up? Are we allowing the words of others to cause us to react rather than take proper action? Are we encouraging destructive behavior by allowing others to speak inappropriately? Are we shaping thought, word and deed into a harmonious whole? Are we refusing to recognize truth in our lives? Are we resisting change, being too complacent, or refusing to look ahead? Are we talking just to hear our selves? 

Giraffe can help us answer these questions. The Acacia is one potential balancing energy for Giraffe, and is worthy of study by those who feel called by this Teacher. Other ruminants as well as the Okapi, the nearest relative of the Giraffe, should also be studied along with any regular predators like Lion or Crocodile. Okapi emphasizes the lessons of camouflage, living in harmony, polarity, and letting go of the need to react. 

The leopard-like jigsaw pattern of Giraffe coats is individual to each, and will remain constant throughout their lives, although coat conditions can change drastically. Their coloring can be pale yellow, gold, earthy orange, reddish brown, or even black, and it is an amazingly effective camouflage. It’s got to be good to hide an 18’ tall being against a sparse landscape! Looking at the meanings behind the particular color of your Giraffe may give you greater insight, as can the numeric symbology of the number of horns, or ossicones they have. Giraffes are one of the few horned creatures that are born with their horns! 

In a Creature Teacher, horns are an indication of innate sensitivity, spiritual, intuitive and divine connections, as well as clairvoyant or visionary qualities. Female giraffe horns are slenderer and more tufted, but the horn tops of the males are soon worn smooth from their sparring. They both develop more ossicones as they mature, the most common being located at the third eye chakra point, with the possibility of two more at the back of the head for a full crown of five ossicones. 

The long necks of giraffes have many valves that help pump blood to their elevated heads, and regulate the blood flow from their large hearts to their heads as they move about. Study of all Chakras (particularly Throat and Heart) is beneficial, but it is understanding and maintaining a balance between chakras that is the real goal. Giraffe people should also beware any circulatory, heart, or knee/foot problems, as well as problems in perception of or denial of reality. Even the healthiest of us often convince ourselves of what we can and cannot do before we’ve even tried. 

The four cloven hooves of the swift and powerful giraffe are a reminder that staying grounded is essential for clarity for this highly spiritual creature. Giraffes are capable of covering great distances, and can deliver well-placed kicks powerful enough to crush the skull of an attacking lioness! Melman the Giraffe from Dreamworks animated film Madagascar is an excellent modern example of severely imbalanced Giraffe energy. Melman is a hypochondriac who allows his fears and emotions to rule his decisions. It takes effort to truly see and accept one’s self with utter truth and clarity, and if we are not honest with ourselves from this core, we cannot see truth or have real clarity in any other aspect of our lives. 

Whether we are choosing to remain blind about a situation, or are combating a more physical hindrance like schizophrenia, depression, sleep apnea... it is essential to strive for truth and clarity. How to balance between Head and Heart, how to stay grounded while we search for truth, clarity and spirituality, how to master our physical selves (especially through movement therapy) to achieve spiritual awareness, how to guard and strengthen ourselves through silence, and remain flexible enough to adapt to the ever-changing needs of the future are all essential Giraffe lessons. Giraffe can teach us how to remember the past as we see into the possible futures all the while walking firmly in our present. Giraffe people who find themselves trying to control everything or everyone, quick to anger, lacking motivation or drive, feeling self-conscious or insecure, tire or lethargic may want to pay particular attention to their Root Chakra. Giraffe's tail may seem like an afterthought, but it is as vital as those four long legs!

When I first began looking at the world of Teachers in Nature around, symbols and relating to All Our Relations in this way, I was surprised to find how many pictures or figurines of the Giraffe I had acquired over time. When my youngest child asked me what picture she could draw me when she was small, I had not even realized how often I asked for Giraffe until she asked me why I always chose that one! 

Once, as a young girl visiting the Los Angeles Zoo, I was intensely startled to have a giraffe I had not seen among the leafy foliage bend over the railing and begin grooming my head. I have never forgotten the feel of that sticky prehensile tongue as she groomed the crown of my head, nor the stir of energy she awakened by this action. I do not think of Giraffes often, but I have come to realize that I have a tremendous respect for the lessons that Giraffe teaches us. Crown Chakra is our connector to the divine and our spiritual nature. I will certainly never forget the feel of her muzzle under my child’s hand; so like the soft yet prickly muzzles of the horses I had known, yet so clearly different. How does this gentle giant appear in your life? 

“The giraffe, although from 16-20 feet in height, is perfectly defenseless, and can only trust to the swiftness of its pace and the extraordinary power of vision, for its means of protection. The eye of this animal is the most beautiful exaggeration of that of the gazelle, while the color of the reddish-orange hide, mottled with darker spots changes the tints of the skin with the differing rays of light, according to the muscular movement of the body. No one who has merely seen the giraffe in the cold climate can form the least idea of its beauty in its native land.” In the Heart of Africa by Sir Samuel White Baker 


“The future is not a result of choices among alternative paths offered by the present, but a place that is created – created first in the mind and will, created next in activity. The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating.” Unknown 




“How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.” George Washington Carver