So, for about a week now, we’ve had these wasps outside my door.  At first, I was really annoyed (which I figured out later was really fear–funny how our mind can disguise our emotions), and was busting down their nest with a broom and spraying them with bug killer.  All the while I was doing this, I recognized this slight feeling of guilt registering somewhere deep inside of me, but my mind shrugged it off as “Nah, there is no reason to feel guilty for killing such pesky creatures. After all, they might sting you!  You are just protecting yourself.”

As much as I wanted to believe what my mind was telling me, so I could justify my actions, I just couldn’t shake this odd feeling. It kept bothering me.  A day or so later, with the same mind that was attempting to justify my actions, I thought “I wonder what the symbolism is of the wasp totem?”  So I promptly looked and it here is what it said:

“Animal symbolism of the wasp deals with:  order, construction, communication, involvement, development, progress, team-work and productivity.”  Source:  www.whats-your-sign.com/wasp-animal-symbolism.html

In that instant, I no longer saw the wasps as pests (this was the point I figured out that my annoyance was really fear in disguise). I suddenly saw their presence as a gift because I realized they were bringing me the energy of the things with which I am most struggling right now.

I continue to be amazed (and hopefully always will) at how quickly a new understanding can change our perspective. And with a new perspective, our behavior changes, too.  So now when I go out of my door or return home, I stop and observe the wasps in all their glory, honor them for what they represent and how they remind me of the lessons that I am trying to learn.  I can even get up close and peer into their nest as they alternately work and rest, and they don’t rustle about.  It’s like there is mutual respect. And the thing that really amazes me is that the whole time I was out there trying to clobber them and kill them, they never once swarmed me or tried to sting me.  They just gracefully flew away and came back after I was gone.  They rode the merry-go-round with me long enough for me to get the message of why they were there.  And if you are reading this and thinking I’m nuts, you are not the only one.  As I type my experience and thoughts here, I think it’s a little “off”, too.  But, hey, people’s point of view is their reality, so if you want to change your reality, change your point of view!

And here is the real kicker…I am observing that the presence of the wasps is really helping me.  For many, many months now, my desk has been cluttered with stacks of papers, unfinished business, project ideas, etc. and as much as I’ve hated it, I also had taken no action to change it.  Since the wasps came along, and I made my peace with them, I found myself inspired to clear my desk and do some organizing. And I actually did it, instead of just thinking about it!  And now, when I walk in my office, I dance a little jig because I am so thrilled to be there instead of immediately being overcome with a feeling of dread and defeat.  How I put up with that feeling of ‘defeat before even getting started’ for as long as I did, I really don’t know.  But then again, that’s not the first time I’ve observed myself defaulting to what is familiar, in lieu of what might be in alignment with my truth.