Meet My Totem

   I could never relate to the fairy tale princesses, and don't have enough of a mean streak to be one of the wicked queens, most of the month, anyway. Don't get me wrong; I loved Cinderella and Aurora and Snow White as much as the next little girl. Still, I just couldn't relate to them.
     I was a veritable anti-princess, if you will. Stocky, chubby, tripping my way into adolescence over the carpet patterns, loud, wondering if I would ever be seen as pretty underneath it all.
    Somewhere along the line, probably in grad school when I discovered Carl Jung, I rediscovered folk tales. In good order, "The Ugly Duckling" popped up. You know, the one about the duckling who realized one day that she was a swan?
     Swans are big and strong. (5'7, myob, and pass the tractor parts, please.) Swans are graceful (took a few dance lessons and a lot of yoga, but I arrived). Swans in some cultures were messengers between the worlds ( I meditate before I write articles or make plans for an issue).
    My swan swam to me through a pond of iris during a guided meditation session. If I accept and heed her messages, I write so much better than I would otherwise. The better I write, the better I serve The One Who Is, and using gifts wisely and well is what it's all about.