It is good to hang upside down from trees !

 So yesterday, David and I had a adventure with an opossum. An opossum got stuck in our outdoor garbage can while going after chicken bones in there.

Not our opossum – this image of an opossum playing ‘possum courtesy of Google .

The thing about an opossum is that they play possum, or fake being dead when they get scared.

Did you know that it is an involuntary comatose-type state caused by extreme fear ?

Well, we learned this the hard way !

Instead of telling you the whole long and quite funny story, just know that it involved  a squealing wife calling her husband at work to tell him there was a dead something in the garbage can, 6 hours of the possum playing dead in said garbage can, as the wife was too scared and grossed out to do anything about it, and both of us realizing that the damn thing was still alive when  it ran from the garbage can straight into the bottom of the garbage bag that David was trying to dispose of the body with, while he was holding it !!!

We were both relieved that he was alive in the end, but finding out that he wasn’t dead scared the be-jesus out of us both !!

Having had this bizarre adventure (We live in a city. A small city yes, but a CITY none the less !), I just had to check on what the meaning of the opossum is in Native American Animal Medicine.

Here is some of what I found :

"I AM OPOSSUM. I bring this message from all of my kinfolk to all of you: IT'S GOOD TO HANG UPSIDE DOWN IN TREES! The world looks completely different from that perspective, and considering the way the world has been going, it might be advantageous for humans to turn things upside down a bit, shake them up as it were, and move in a different direction.
"Ah, I see that you had not suspected me of having a dry wit, but among my people, my sense of humor is legendary. Are you not aware that I am continuously grinning, especially when laying low - you call it playing 'possum'; rolling over; playing dead. These are merely diversions so that the predators of the world will not consider me of interest or a challenge. I suggest that you imitate my strategy when danger is upon you. I will help you attain long life, for the one who tries to forestall a fight, rather than battling his way through, will live longer - less stress - and of course, there is always the more accomplished opponent. Have a happy life. Viva l'opossum!” -Cie Simurro for Wisdom Magazine

So it looks like that opossum may have had some valuable information for me from the universe. My message seems to be that I should keep on looking at the world in my sometimes “different from the crowd” perspective, and keep myself safe from the predators of the world by having the ultimate trust that life will bring me where I need to go, without any major actions needed by me.

I appreciate this kind of confirmation that the choices I have been making lately to Be or hang out in my own life are the right ones. And knowing that the universe will bring me to where I need to go without that “battling through” way of thinking is also very comforting. It makes me feel like I am on the right track.

So little stinky possum, I am glad we all made it out of this experience relatively intact, and I am grateful that you bravely came to give me my message.

Now stay the F*** out of the garbage !!!

Happy Wednesday, Beautiful Ones !