Issue #7 The Magic Heron Newsletter – Octopus is all about adaptability!! -

Welcome to the 7th issue of The Magic Heron Newsletter, a fortnightly newsletter with a focus on journaling, writing, and learning nature’s wisdom through midlife. Thanks for being here. I appreciate you.

North Carolina, May 9, 2021

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Hi there!

This week the temperature is staying around the 80’s, and it is nice to get out in the mornings and be in the sun before I start the day. My son and I are getting out more around the water, now that he is starting weight-bearing exercises on his leg. So, we are going to the beach area on the Neuse River to walk and doing more fishing at the ponds.

This has been a busy few weeks. I took some time off from my projects the last few months to help my son with his surgery. Now I’m back to planning new books, notebooks, and stationery to work on. And new Spirit Animals journals too. I’ve got a few more I’ll be adding to the Etsy shop soon.

I finally had time to watch My Octopus Teacher on Netflix and was captured instantly by the beauty of the film. If you have not seen this, do it before they take it down, I know it’s already been on there for a while. It starts with a mystery and the mystery is solved by the end.

I’ve been thinking a lot about adaptability, and how the octopus can teach us to adapt to our ever-changing environment. Not only on the trail when hiking, while keeping an eye out for snakes or bears, but in our regular day-to-day life as well. We do a lot of it without thinking about it, but other times, adapting to new situations is more challenging. What does octopus teach us about blending in with our surroundings? Or being flexible in our interactions with others? Or, if thinking about flexibility literally, how about adding yoga to your routine??

By the way, Happy Mother’s Day, if you are celebrating!

And if not (some of us had toxic mothers) then take some time out for yourself today and do what YOU need for you!

I’m off to the ponds and the nature trails, so enjoy your day and happy journaling wherever you are!

This week’s newsletter Spirit Animal

Octopus Symbolism and Meanings:

Being mostly a bottom dweller (being grounded), the octopus is quite a traveler. They are agile, graceful, and flexible, able to slip through and out of tight places. They can detach a limb to distract predators, symbolizing that we also have the ability to cut loose the distractions that have become toxic or no longer needed in our lives. (addictions, social media, toxic relationships, etc.)

Octopus are extremely intelligent. They can reason and strategize, showing us to master our intelligence. They teach us about regeneration, as they can grow back an arm after losing it. They are the master of camouflage and show us how to morph into our environment and become almost invisible when we need to be.

Focus
Reason
Illusion
Defense
Strategic
Creativity
Flexibility
Complexity
Intelligence
Adaptability
Unpredictability
Regeneration

Octopus is about adaptability to its environment and predators. How are you adapting to your environment that constantly changes?

You can learn more about octopus symbolism here and here.

Recently Published . . .

Here are a few recently published items that may be of interest to you . . .

1. Octopus Stationery

2. I Came I Mowed I Kicked Grass Lawn Mowing Lawn Care Appointment Book: Logbook

3. Hot Air Balloons Notebooks

Blog Posts . . .

Here are my latest blog posts:

1. Journal Entry #10– Backyard Wilderness

2. Journal Entry #11—Green Anole Lizard

Interesting links . . .

Here are some interesting links I came across on my ventures through Internet Land this week that I thought you might enjoy:

1. Menopausal Years … Treading the Turbulent Midlife Waters

2. The Natural Navigator-An Interview with Tristan Gooley

3. Open lectures and signup for new webinars at Bird Academy

4. Bird Academy Play Lab

5. DANDELIONS are the BEST INDICATORS of…

6. 11 Reasons Why Birds Have Stopped Visiting Your Feeders!

Articles on Journaling . . .

So many good articles on journaling. Here are a few you might like.

1. Adding Pages to My Handmade Leather Journal

2. How to Keep a Journal You’ll Want to Read

3. 5 Ways Vision Boards Help You Reach Your Goals

4. Breathe Life into Your Fiction with Journaling

Random Nature Fact . . .

A single elephant tooth can weigh as much as 9 pounds.

Nature Journal video . . .

How good are you at observing? John Muir Laws shows a few examples in this video of how we can easily be missing details in our observations and how our brains process what we are observing according to survival. What our brain notices and what it decides to leave out.

Watch the video and then let me know—how did you do on observing details? Did you catch what happens on the Amazing Card Trick?

What do you think about what he talks about how our brains recall memories? And how does nature journaling change your brain and make recalling memories more accurate?

John Muir Laws at the 2019 Wild Wonder Conference

Nature Journal Prompt . . .

This week’s nature journal prompt is the octopus. Here are some fun facts!

Octopus facts:

Order: Octopoda, 300 species of soft-bodied, eight-limbed molluscs

Octopus is grouped in the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, and nautiloids

Lifespan: 3-5 years (Giant Pacific octopus)

Scientific name: Octopoda

Weight: 8.8 lbs to 22-110 lbs

Length: up to 30 feet

Habitat: Octopus live in every ocean, and can be found in shallow tide pools, coral reefs, near seagrass beds, and cold ocean depths.

What it eats: crustaceans, polychaete worms, other molluscs (whelks, clams), prawns, fish and other cephalopods.

What eats it: fish, seabirds, sea otters, pinnipeds, cetaceans, other cephalopods, and humans

Did you know?

All species of Octopus are venomous, but only one is lethal to humans—the blue-ringed octopus. It ranges from Australia to the eastern Indo-Pacific Ocean. The venom contains tetrodotoxin, causing paralysis, which causes death by respiratory failure. There’s no antidote. If the patient can be kept breathing by artificial means, they recover within 24 hours.

What I’m watching . . .

1. My Octopus Teacher – currently on Netflix

Absolutely one of the BEST documentaries I’ve seen on wildlife. The fascinating relationship between a man and an octopus and the kelp forest surrounding them. It shows that we can learn from all aspects of nature.

My Octopus Teacher | Official Trailer | Netflix

2. The Zookeeper’s Wife – currently on Netflix

This is the true story of Jan & Antonina Zabinski, the Warsaw Zoo caretakers, who started the underground resistance to save Jews when the Nazis invaded Poland.

The Zookeeper’s Wife Official Trailer 1 (2017) – Jessica Chastain Movie

3. Waterworld

Waterworld Original Film Trailer

I know…. I know! But, it’s Kevin Costner! 🙂

What I’m reading . . .

1. Starting Points: A Year of Writing Prompts For Women With Stories To Tell by Susan Wittig Albert

2. Writing From Life: For Women With Stories To Tell by Susan Wittig Albert

3. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell

Quote I’m pondering . . .

“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.”

– Jacques Yves Cousteau

Questions I’m considering journaling on . . .

As a lifewriter, I need to pay attention to the small things, the small moments in life. The painter Georgia O’Keefe did this in her work, she magnified each small blossom of the flowers she painted.

How can I pay attention to the little things, the brief moments in life, and magnify them to see what really happened and what it means?

Journal Prompt . . .

Water symbolizes many things: purity, fluidity, emotion, intuition, creativity, and the psyche.

What does water symbolize to you? What kind of water? Is it influenced by the energy around it?

Journal your thoughts and then take a look at the pictures in the book The Hidden Messages in Water by Dr. Masaru Emoto.

Here is a short video showing some of those pictures of water molecules in his experiments.

Dr. Masaru Emoto’s Water Molecule Experiments

Happy Journaling!

. . . Shanna

P.S. Is there something you like or would rather see in the newsletter? Hit reply and let me know!

I’ll be back on May 23rd.

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