animal communication

You know how you get out of bed and at times you think: what activity makes me the happiest to go and do? We all have that. I have been trying several things aside of working in the interior design industry since 2003. What I have always been crazy about, without exception, are animals. Furry preferably but even chooks can be a true delight (and I don't mean to eat). As my father was allergic to animals we could only have fish at home. Fortunately at the end of the street the council had built a mini petting zoo with goats on this grass field. I've had a soft spot for goats ever since I was able to visit them before and after school and see the baby goats grow up.

(photo of some of our fuzz friends in the front field)
Over the years I have been reading books and trying out things in regards to understanding animals. This has been increasingly interesting! Last weekend I had a goat whispering session with an ex feral goat called Paddy. His human mum had had him in a small field because Paddy seemed to always want to be the boss and chase other smaller animals around (and even had bowled people over on occasion). His mum didn't like that very much. But Paddy got lonely and let me know that he would very much like to be close to the other animals and talk to them. He had gotten sad and demure, unlike his usual fun spirit. I told his mum of what I received and suggested Paddy'd be put with 3 donkeys in another field. She agreed and Paddy moved in and started to dance around the donkeys and proceeded to hug one with enthusiasm by scratching her neck. She let him.

(It's baby goat boom time! Cute fuzz balls everywhere!)

I feel people forget that our pets have emotions and wishes of their own. They are not "dumb". In many ways they are like children: they want things, they can even demand things, but it would be good if we chose to respect what they wish to say and listen to it. We can say no and explain why. I have two goat boys hanging out with a horse and a jersey cow at the moment. One is the buck and he can't be with the girls as they are giving birth to baby goats right now plus we don't want them impregnated until May. I have found it helpful to explain to the goat boys that they have to live somewhere else because the girls are busy and that they will be allowed back in a few months. At first they were a bit scared of the horse but it only took a day or so for them to walk close to her and now the tall mare doesn't worry them one little bit. Animals are very capable to socialize with other species, unlike humans. They always amaze me with this.

(miss Rosie she is a zesty friend)
I'm currently reading books by Amelia Kinkade, a lady who can speak with animals. I enjoy her stories and her wisdom. Her excercises are very helfpul to aid in further developing skills. Have you tried to figure out what your pet is saying? Behaviour is always telling as we are generally so inept to understand their language which mainly consists of feelings and images. If they are ignored they start barking, being naughty, soiling or chewing. If they are in pain they find a quiet spot, moan or look listless and stop eating. It's by caring that we can spot what the story is.

In general we can pick up many things as long as we pay attention. I have found that the trick is to not fill in the blanks which can be hard. So in order to shut up the chatter box that is our minds we can find it helpful to take a walk, go to the beach, meditate, sit somewhere quietly. It's astounding what we start to notice once we take our foot of the pre programmed accelarator. Have you tried this lately? Have you stopped talking in order to listen better? What was said?

visual conversation

It's all about the conversation these days, whether I read up on things that are current on Seth Godin's blog, read Idealog magazine and a few others, surf international blogs and websites: the trend du jour is all about talking - the interaction that matters - rather then just following and absorbing. It's also about checking out that which interests us and what is genuine. No more fibs of advertising thank you, we'd rather discuss things on forums or at the pub which confirms our opinion. We tend to believe 'people like us' more then what we are told by organizations (read Idealog about more of this).

Adding on to above I'm going to bowl you over with something else entirely: language is generally not so much the words, it's what's being shaped in our mind when we hear and see, that draws the associated emotions. What is our inner radar telling us about what we're witnessing? What are we interested in? What is our make up? What really matters to us? Who are we really?

Have we ever considered that there may be other sources of information available to us, even if we do not consciously can verbalize what the message is, what the conversation is about? We can pick up more then we think and it seems scientifically proven that our consciousness does not reside just in our brain, because when we're declared brain dead, we can still observe and 'live'. (Read more about Pim van Lommel's research here and here.)

I've been interested in Crop circles since Nico and I literally stumbled over one during a holiday in England in the mid nineties. Nico and I were so impressed with the discovery in a wheat field that we ended up cruising around finding all these other designs. Walking through them was quite an experience. It was a bit of a hype at the time and I did a lot of reading up on it upon returning home, even communicating with professors and the like in the Netherlands getting down to the nitty gritty science of it. Heck I even ended up doing my art essay on cropcircles and land art in my senior year, comparing the two and discussing 'virtual language'.

For me the various 'explanations' of how crop circles could be physically made were interesting but not the most fascinating. What is incredible is the science and the visual aspects of it: over time the crop circles have increased to manifest in intricate and ever so complex patterns. The assumption that they are man made as an 'of course' seem doubtful when you realize the enormous size of them and the fact it would be a humongous and impossible task to manufacture them in the dark using rope and the like without denting the surrounding stalks and also without being caught. I'm not advocating some fluffy daisy theory but rather am open minded about alternative sources and the possibility and likelyhood of things happening in our world we may not yet comprehend. (It wouldn't be the first time and it would also be more interesting.)

Nowadays the attitude towards crop cirlces have been oh yeah whatever, some green hippies playing tag, but which ever it turns out to be, I have continued to find the images intriguing. They are a language, in a virtual form hat we are not as yet accustomed to. It's not so much about who the storyteller that's important as the effect, the visual image that is so compelling. It's not so strange that branding consist of a strong logo, excellent story and blow-me-down product.

Whatever technical evolved society we may end up in living, the basics are always, the human story, the interaction, the effect it has on us. The Power of Visuals in a nutshell.

So, what images are 'talking to you' lately?

visuals: Crop circle connector