Step onto the Pathway of Love, part 2
Slugs are the enemy. They have eaten virtually everything I've tried to grow in my veg patch this year: carrots, parsnips, brassicas, beans. All gone. So I'm not particularly impressed with slugs at the moment.
But I decided to do a little research. What useful niche do these creatures fill in the greater scheme of things? Surely they must do something that I can love and admire them for?
![[image]](/images/attachment/slug.jpg)
Slugs eat all my veg, but there are always new things to learn
Turns out they are very good for feeding birds and hedgehogs, as well as eating my vegetables in their infancy. But in the process, I came across something I didn't know.
I knew slugs were hermaphrodites, which means they have both male and female sexual organs. For some reason, I thought that that meant that they changed from one to the other over time, but that's not the case with slugs. When they mate, they actually inseminate each other, and both end up laying eggs. Which I think is a very fair division of labour.
Our world is filled with little wonders like this. And many big ones as well. From sub-atomic particles to distant galaxies, it is a never-ending source of awe and amazement. We can spend a lifetime finding out all there is to know about just a tiny aspect of our universe. Like slugs. Or the birth of new stars. Or the tiny awesome things that happen when a cell splits and becomes two.
What gets you excited? What are you curious about? What fascinates you and makes your jaw drop in wonder like a kid with a new dinosaur book?
I bet there is something that tickles your curiosity. Please go and find out more about this topic. In this age of the internet, virtually everything you'll ever want to know is just a couple of mouse clicks away. Go and explore and feed your mind. Your love for our awesome world can only grow with your knowledge.
If you are not sure where to start, try this exercise.
Journey of discovery in your back yard
Go outside and take a few deep breaths. Feel your feet on the ground. Let your weight drop down into the lower part of your body. Allow your eyes to soften a little, taking in your peripheral vision as well.
Now send your feeling senses out into your immediate environment. Can you feel something gently tugging at you? Can you hear a silent call? Follow this call.
When you come to the being that has called you, spend some time with it. Don't try to label it or analyse it for now. It doesn't matter if you don't know its name. You'll have time to work that out later. Just let your feeling senses touch this being. What does it feel like to be with it?
When you feel you've talked to your new friend long enough, gently draw your attention back inside yourself. Then go and find out everything you can about this being. Whether it is a plant, an animal, a weather phenomenon or a stone, you will be able to learn something you didn't know. Spend as long as you like on this. An hour, a day, a year, a lifetime.
But don't forget to go back to that being that first called you. Does being with it still feel the same? How do the impressions you receive from your friend compare to the 'book knowledge' you have gained about it? What can you learn from this being and the way it relates to the rest of its world?
Enjoy your adventures.
If you know of any other ways to wake your awe, please share them in the comments box below.
Previous post in this series: Come to your senses