For weeks now, my boyfriend has wanted me to cut his hair. NYC hasn’t started to open up yet, so who knows when barbers will be working again? My weeks-long response has been: I’ve never cut hair before, I don’t know how to do it, I won’t do it.
But Adam seemed to believe in me, and he really needed it. So the other day I found an instructional video and decided to try the cut. In the end, I think I did a phenomenal job, and I’ve happily discovered a money-saving skill I never knew I had. (Adam thinks the cut is “pretty good”…I think it’s spectacular. But that’s for another blog.)
Four years ago, I was compelled to go to the Bahamas to swim with wild dolphins in the open sea. The first day there, our guide gave an orientation about protocol with the dolphins and the strength and stamina required to swim with them.
I promptly freaked out, left the room, and cried hysterically. I was struggling with chronic fatigue, and I’d never done anything like this before, so why did I think I could do it?? But that afternoon, I found myself gearing up at the back of the boat because the dolphins had shown up. We were instructed to sit on the tiny back ledge and slide in, one by one. When it was my turn, I perched on the ledge and didn’t move, thinking, “I’ll just sit here for a while…maybe forever.” Suddenly I heard our guide exclaiming, “Come on, come on, let’s go!” and I promptly slid into the water.
To my amazement, one dolphin swam super close to me across the front of my face, our eyes meeting. At the same time, another super-close dolphin swam parallel below me. Then I felt a surge of energy in my body. Later back on the boat, I felt like I was occupying a new body—no trace of fatigue at all. Our guide told me that some people believe dolphins can see what kind of healing we need and are able to give it to us energetically.
We’ll find out soon if NYC will continue to shelter in place or start to reopen. As badly as I want to get back to normal, there’s a part of me that feels like we’re going from being super safe and concealed to venturing out into the unknown. We’ve never experienced a reopening before, how will we know how to do it??
It all comes down to choice—we can meet each new thing (cutting hair, swimming in the open sea, healing from a pandemic) with resistance, or we can know that the universe will support our moving forward. As the globe powers on through various phases, I know we’ll show up for each other—as will the animals and the universe. In the meantime, I’ll be here, reopening my heart to the possibilities. ❤️