HUMOR, WIT, SARCASM
The Hyena personality is a jokester and crowdpleaser, but below the surface there are unfulfilled dreams to be realized. When the Hyena card appears it's time to reflect on your reliance on sarcasm and humor to express your truth. Are you using jokes to hide old resentments in relationships, or to mask things that you feel uncomfortable discussing? What would happen if you took your goals seriously?
WHEN IN BALANCE: charming, witty, fun to be around
WHEN OUT OF BALANCE: scrappy, petty, suspicious
TO BRING INTO BALANCE: sobriety
Hi :) Welcome to week 8 of our yoga series based on the symbolism of the animal kingdom. Each creature represents a different aspect of our human journey, helping us to better understand and connect to our inner and outer worlds. Every 5 weeks, we cycle through each of the 5 elements (earth, water, fire, air, space) and their respective animals in this card deck.
Last week, the stingray of the water element reminded us to develop a strong spine through faith and confidence in our path and purpose, no matter what others or our own fears may say. Because that call of the dharma, of our purpose, will continue to cry louder and louder until we finally answer.
This week, we reunite with the fire element, which relates to our transformation and purification. The hyena reveals one of the masks that we may hide behind - humor and sarcasm. Everything has its time and place, but is our humor unbalanced? Is it used as a defense against recognizing how we really feel and what is truly important to us?
This card asks us to sober up to our emotions. As an overarching theme, or in relation to a specific situation, there is something that you are not fully recognizing. And so, that emotion, will continue to linger and fester until it is brought into the light. Humor can seem harmless enough, but notice how it makes light of things that aren't actually funny to us... we end up not taking ourselves seriously, when it really matters. Everything in balance. If we constantly brush away our problems with a laugh, we'll never truly address them, and they'll end up creating a blockage in our path.
We grow not through disregarding ourselves or circumstances... by ignoring, but by fully recognizing, and using whatever arises from that recognition as fuel for the fire of our transformation.
Let's create an example. Jimmy has always wanted to be a cowboy. But he lives in Boston. He's never even ridden a horse. His friends would make fun of him when he'd dress up as a cowboy in elementary school. The nickname "cowboy Jim" even stuck through adulthood, but his childhood excitement had become subdued as he grew older. Now 28, working as a computer engineer, still in Boston. His friends often bring up about how he used to dress up as a cowboy all the time and he laughs and jokes along "yeah and now look at me sitting at a desk all day." Jimmy may not even fully recognize it, but he really still does want to be a cowboy. Maybe that's not his full calling, but maybe even just a trip to Wyoming or a horse ride would change his world in a powerful way... it's a step. If he'd just sober up to the fact that he wants to be a cowboy.
Perhaps in fully recognizing ourselves... how we feel, what we want... we gain the clarity to release an old resentment, mend something, create something, or make some decision, change some habit. But we won't know what change is needed, subtle or profound, unless we first remove that mask of the hyena, get serious for a bit, and sober up to see our life with clear eyes.
To wrap it up, don't sell yourself short. Don't downplay your emotions, your dreams, your goals, or whatever the truth is about any particular aspect of your life. The hyena in you is such a fun, energy to be around, just don't let that humor overpower you... it's sneaky. Live in truth. Allow yourself to remove the masks, sink into the sober reality of your truth, and take the steps you know you must take to move forward on your path. A path that always leads us deeper into connection, into peace, into love.
Next week, the butterfly supports us through a transition, as we take to the cocoon.
dream extreme!
♡ kat
excerpts from my journal:
"Sometimes sobering up doesn't require any objective change. Sometimes I just need to full admit how I'm feeling... even just to myself. Maybe there isn't a clear step to take right now. Maybe I can't fix the problem at this moment. But if I open my eyes now, not only do I experience relief and peace, but now when that next step is revealed to me, I won't be blind."
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