Year of the Goat

The History of the Holy Goat Ranch recorded an anecdote involving their three female goats: Miss Brown, Prissy and Dot. Miss Brown had mistaken Dot's high heel shoes for her own, and so Dot gave the shoes to her. Later when Miss Brown found her shoes out in the dump pile, and decided to give Dot's shoes back to her, but she would not accept the returned shoes.

A similar event occurred one and a half years prior between Prissy and Miss Brown. Prissy took Miss Brown's shoes sitting by the stanchion by mistake. Miss Brown smiled saying, "Are they yours?" and gave the shoes to her. Soon Prissy found the shoes she had lost and gave Miss Brown's shoes back, feeling bad because they looked rather worn-out. Miss Brown asked if they weren't really hers, then smiled while she scraped the edge of the souls with her knife and a brightness of gold shone through clearly, and then took the shoes back.

These are trivial matters amongst goats and for us people too, however, the question arises: Is it better for us to act as Miss Brown or Dot?

Well, I hope you like my story. Lots of symbolism can be pulled out, with my favorite one being that in a society based on capital, other peoples' motives are not always well understood. And without amicability, we are marooned, and all the goats know it. Love, Sharon

Year of the Horse

We moisten each other in order to thrive. (How lovely this thought.) This moisture idea creates a grid of creativity and potentiality across the globe during this transition from last year's water/snake to 2014's wood/horse this Chinese New Year. We can contribute to this cycle as well as be fueled by it. I like to think this wave of positive energy ignites the knowing in our hearts that a patient and altruistic universe exists. It is a reality I like to play in, and so I decided to write a short story for this month's blog entry in honor of the horse.

It's almost spring and I am a young woman living across from a dude ranch. I possess a horse, which I am very fond of. Wherever I go, my horse wants to go, so I learned to lead him around and eventually ride him.

One day I was out after dark and fell into a well about three hundred feet down, where I got kinda soggy from the water. My horse, unfettered as he was, neighed and neighed around the well all night until a man in oily overalls from a neighboring cabin heard the neighing and walked over to find me down in the well. I begged the stranger, that I later learned was a ranch hand, saying, "If you help me get out of here, I promise you a good reward." To this he responded, "If you promise me your horse I'll help you." I replied, "How can I give you my constant companion; I'd be so lonely without him." The ranch hand retorted, "If you don't agree, I'll just leave you in the well."

My horse at the moment peered over the side of the well and stared down at me. It occurred to me that my horse was giving me a signal. So I shouted out my agreement to the request. The ranch hand helped me out of the well, and placing a rope around my horse's neck, he led my sweet companion away. After five days, after which I had dried out a bit, it started snowing and my horse returned to me in the night.

Well, I hope you like my story. Lots of symbolism can be pulled out, with my favorite one being the interconnectedness that is undeniable and can be used for the purposes of life-affirming transformations. Love, Sharon