Welcome to the 2nd issue of The Magic Heron Newsletter, a fortnightly newsletter by me, Shanna Lea, with a focus on journaling, writing, and learning nature’s wisdom through midlife. Thanks for being here. I appreciate you.

North Carolina, February 28, 2021

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Hi there!

It’s the last week of February! Spring is around the corner. The rain we were having is finally gone and temperatures are warming up into the 50’s this week here in North Carolina.

In your nature journaling or regular journaling, do you write about the symbolic meanings of the animals you encounter? These are totems or spirit animals and you can look these meanings up on multiple sources now. I’ve found a lot of insight journaling the meanings and how it’s related to what is going on in my life.

For my daughter and I, we feel the Great Blue Heron came to us at a time we were starting our Etsy business. We were learning how to create printables like stationery, journals and planners and during the day we would go out to the park to write and come up with new ideas. There is a small lake out there and a Great Blue Heron would appear at the edge of the opposite bank. I watched him through the binoculars and sketched him in the nature journal I carried with me.

After I came to North Carolina, the blue heron has shown up whenever I’ve had questions about the business, and continues to be a messenger.

Great Blue Heron symbology or meanings

The heron is an intelligent and shrewd bird. He is also resourceful and determined. Some other words to describe the heron are calm, grace, solitude, patience, versatility, partnership, being present, and resourcefulness.

My daughter writes novels in the mixed fantasy genre and we often have writing sessions together. She works on her characters and plot development and I’m exploring essays and creative non-fiction on nature. We often read each other’s writings and help each other in areas the other is having problems with.

So, we came up with Magic Heron Creations as our logo to reflect aspects of both of us. You can see the logo at the top of this newsletter.

I look over the meanings of animals often, to give me insight and reflection for my current goings-on in my life. I’ve watched heron stand patiently, sometimes for hours, staring at the water. And then, suddenly, he’s plucked a fish for his meal and flown off. Patience and resourcefulness are two things you have to have in every business and has helped me many times.

What is your spirit animal? Do you find one animal, bird, reptile or other facet of nature showing up often in your life? Do you journal about the symbolic meanings to see if they are showing up for some aspect of your life?

Here are a few sources you can learn more about the symbolism and meanings if you need. They are usually my go to sources when I want to look up a new animal.

Whats-Your-Sign.com

Animal-Speak: The Spiritual and Magical Powers of Creatures Great and Small by Ted Andrews

I’ve also put together a few Spirit Animal Journals on Etsy if you want to start with one of those to learn how to start journaling with spirit animals.

Life Story Summit . . .

Did you sign up for Stacy Brookman’s Life Story Summit yet? It just started, but you can still sign up to watch the speakers and for the giveaway. And don’t forget to join Stacy’s Facebook Group! Click here to sign up today.

Blog Post . . .

Are you new to journaling? I’ve been journaling for 30 + years and still find new insights every day from writing every morning. Here’s the first blog post I wrote when I started my website.

Interesting Links . . .

This week I came across an interesting link for using cattails to keep warm. Back home last week, my daughter had to deal with the bitter arctic cold and snow that sent all of Texas into a deep freeze. She and the dogs are doing fine now. We are used to preparing for winter in the Panhandle, but south Texas is not. I discovered this article about how the Anishinabek tribe used cattails to keep warm in Michigan 600 years ago.

Anishinabe knew secret to winter warmth along Grand River: Cattails

And, you may have already seen this, as it’s made it’s rounds on Facebook this week, but it’s too cute not to share again.

Zoom filter traps this lawyer as a cute cat during live court hearing

This Week’s Nature Journal Video . . .

If you are just getting started on nature journaling, John Muir Laws has a whole channel devoted to the ‘how’ of it. This video is a great place to start:

Getting Started with Nature Journaling

John Muir Laws

Nature Journal Prompt . . .

Since spring is almost here and I talked about seeing robins last time, let’s make this week’s newsletter spirit animal the American Robin.

American Robin heralds in Spring with joy, hope, happiness, new beginnings and a return to warmth.

Migratory songbird

In the Thrush family

Lifespan: 2 years

Scientific name: Turdus migratorius

Mass: 2.7 oz

Length: 9.1 – 11 inches

Egg color: blue

Habitat: woodlands, suburban backyards, parks, grasslands with shrubs

Food: fruits, berries, earthworms, insects (beetle grubs, caterpillars, grasshoppers, etc)

You can use this image to practice your drawings (or draw from one in your backyard or on a YouTube video) and then go look up interesting facts about the robin. You can also add in the symbolic meanings if you wish.

Journal Prompt . . .

Last week I finished reading The Clan of the Cave Bear. This week I started book 2 of the series, The Valley of the Horses. Now Ayla is on her own and using all the skills she learned in the first book to survive and be self-reliant.

I found an interesting passage near the beginning that Kindle has marked showing that many, many readers have highlighted it. (Yeah, Kindle tracks what you highlight for their algorithms).

“There had been a time when her survival depended on conforming to a way of life foreign to her nature. Now it depended on her ability to overcome her childhood conditioning and think for herself. The auroch’s horn was a beginning, and it boded well for her chances…”

I had a lot of conditioning to conform to abuse when I was a child and have spent all my adulthood overcoming it. It’s part of my writing as I journal through midlife.

What do you think? Is there still conditioning from your childhood you are overcoming? Use this as a prompt for your journaling today.

Quote I’m pondering . . .

Correct quote:

“When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.” John Muir

This is often misquoted in memes all over the internet as:

“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.”

Source

What I’m reading . . .

1. The Valley of the Horses by Jean M Auel

2. Chance Particulars by Sara Mansfield Taber

This is my 2^nd time through this book and I keep getting more out of it all the time. Here’s the full title:

Chance Particulars: A Writer’s Field Notebook for Travelers, Bloggers, Essayists, Memoirists, Novelists, Journalists, Adventurers, Naturalists, Sketchers, and Other Note-Takers and Recorders of Life by Sara Mansfield Taber

What I’m watching . . .

I just finished watching News of the World with Tom Hanks. Such a good film, be sure to see this

News of the World Trailer

Questions I’m considering journaling on . . .

Not really a question, but rather taking a journal entry and rewriting it a few ways to see how each writing changes and feels different.

For example, I write in first person in my journal, so if I’m writing about an outing with my son for a walk with the dog (he walked down the trail while I stopped to study the pine needle clusters on the branch), then I can rewrite using 3^rdperson (he walked the dog down the trail while his mother stopped to study the pine needle clusters on the branch).

How many ways can you rewrite your journal entries? Hit reply and let me know how you are doing with your journaling!

Happy Journaling!

Shanna

P.S. Sign up for The Life Story Summit here!

I’ll be back on March 14.

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