Mentioned a few times on these pages was my first marraige breakdown in 1996 and the only time I had suicidal thoughts. A couple of years later my cousin had suffered a sever back injury and depression evolved from it. Following a big operation he was advised to walk and walk and walk to strengthen his back muscles.
He returned to Tasmania and walked in remote areas. One time he stood on a cliff face and was in so much pain he wanted to jump. He looked up and saw a wedge tailed eagle soaring above him. The spirit connected and he walked on. A day or so later he rang me from Tasmania's highest peak Mt Ossa.
EAGLEDREAM AND EAGLEFREE
Pity those so many souls
that cannot sing
or imagine the lift of an eagles wing...
To get to Eagledream
U-turn from devil's drop
right at suicide dock
brake at satan's falls
and at Mt Ossa prop.
Then hug the love of all
of trekker and the unaware
those that stared
into an eagle's eye
to feel what life really means
- to visit eagledream.
Close your eyes
arms above your head
flatten weary palms
hear naught being said
wait for an eagle to land
stroke his bold chest
embrace eaglefest
thank the hunters heart
then free him....all in your mind
Devil's drop a distant memory
as the eagle soars like jetstream
pity those, so many souls
- that never find eagledream....
WK
About eight months later I went to Tassy. I told my cousin that in honour of his experience, his pain, his spiritual connection with that eagle and his (in my eyes) heroic survival, I'd got a tattoo on my arm of an eagle. I called it eaglefree.
He looked at me the lifted his own shirt to reveal a tattoo of an eagle. We had both got them weeks before without each others knowledge. His called his eagledream. Two words meaning survival from enduring pain, depression and desperation......and survival.
Spiritual connection can come in so many forms. In my view love is the strongest spirit, to give love and appreciate any return you get. Not expecting return is the best mindset. Just like that eagle that day, totally unexpected but life changing. The end result was - life can turn around, it can be magnificent, rewarding and different to what you once thought when you were at your lowest.......and it can be spiritual.
