Gussy the Gecko




August 29th, 2008, a Friday


There is another world all around us that you may not be aware of.  I know that some of you won't believe what I am saying and that's ok with me (the Dutchman taught me that.....you know.....personal freedom and responsibility for our choices).  So if you choose not to believe in the other world, the consequences are that you don't get the spectacular pleasure of experiencing it.  Your choice. 

The other world is full of spirits and energy that are not immediately obvious.  Some are though.  All you have to do is be visited by a dragonfly while sitting at the water's edge to know that their world is strange and wonderful.  Scientists would say that they have typical lives, a place in the insect world, with certain duties that fit into the natural scheme of things.  But they are a lot more than that in the other world.  In European culture, dragonflies are considered sinister, known as the devils darning needle or Hell's mare.  They believe the devil uses dragonflies to weigh people's souls.  There is also the notion that dragonflies follow snakes around and stitch them back together when injured.  While these are not flattering images of the dragonfly, they are other world images. 

The Native Americans have a different view of the dragonfly believing them to represent swiftness and activity.  My favorite is they believe the dragonfly is a symbol of renewal after great hardship.  Japan sees them as symbolic of courage, strength and happiness.  Vietnam uses them to forecast rain.  Flying at low level means rainy, high level means sunny and medium level means shadowy.  Notice they don't say cloudy.  Shadowy, a condition of the other world. 

Haven't you ever watched a hummingbird hover close by and wonder how they must experience the world?  Or how about the adorable tiny gecko lizards that you sometimes find in the house if you live in the desert?  They have suction cups on their little feet, look transparent, are nocturnal with immovable eyelids and completely harmless.  I always ask the Dutchman to carry them outside when I see them in the house but he says they are house lizards and find plenty to eat.  You know, the little creatures we can't even see because they exist in the other world.

And don't forget about the spirits that are everywhere around us.  People who are moving from one life to the next.  Or just that whiff you sometimes get of something you can't explain that makes you feel a certain way.  A premonition or a peace when you know everything is as it should be. 

If you want, you can decide to live in the regular world all the time.  The world in which we work, stress out, pay the bills, love and play.  But if I were you, I would tune in to the other world as well.  It is a wonderful place to be if you just allow yourself to go there.  If you are not sure how, just ask a child.  They will show you. 

GR