Untying the Wolf~
I had the pleasure of listening to a fairytale recently about a little girl and a wolf. This was not Little Red Riding Hood, but an allegory depicting our journey to becoming whole; connecting to our essential nature.
In this tale, the girl is left in the meadow by her father who is hunting, and told not to run into the woods under any circumstances. Of course, she hears a loud noise and runs into the woods, to find a snarling wolf trapped in a snare. He asks her to please release him. ("No, don't, you silly girl. The big, bad wolf will eat you up!" cries out our voice of reason). But, this is a fairytale with layers of meaning, and so the little girl unties the wolf.
He does not eat her, but bestows the gift of "truth" upon her for her courage and kindness. There is more to the story, but I'll stop here.
As most of you have guessed the wolf is a metaphor for our fears: they come in all flavors and often are much "bigger, badder, and meaner" in our own minds than in reality. Our fears will not eat us up, but they sure do feel like it at times. It takes courage to look our fear straight in the eye, and say, "I am going to untie you now". For me, this means, I am going to take a closer look here. Step into the fire and experience the heat, and possible burn.
My truth has been that examining my brokenness is the only way to finding my wholeness. It's painful, that's for damn sure, but the reward is a deeper understanding, acceptance and peace within myself.
Is there a wolf in your woods?
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