when i first arrived at my current home

a small brown otter was down by the bank of the water

maybe 60 meters away.

the next summer i saw it around the neighbors house

maybe 40 meters away.

4 years later for a couple of days it was right up on my patio

within maybe 2/3 meters of me.

one morning it came around the corner and was surprised to see me.

it retreated back around the corner, peeked around to see me still sitting there

hesitated then scurried forward to where it had been going.

i too had a moment of fright when i first saw it.

i was taken by surprise

and i had considered stepping back inside 

 As an aquatic animal, the otter is a symbol of life.

Why?

Because the prime symbolic meaning of water

deals with the divine feminine, which is a major life-giving energy. 

so i was thinking

otter is feminine.

i carry a lot of wounded male energy.

so otter & i

were feminine & masculine afraid of each other.

yet after our initial fright

we were each able to move past our fear and go about our day.

otter hesitated then scurried forward to where she had been going.

i hesitated then continued forward to my smoking rock.

so i thought that’s my lesson.

my masculine and feminine have feared each other.

6 years ago we were 60 meters from each other.

4 years later 2/3 meters apart

and while we didn’t touch we had come a long way.