But What Does Your Heart See?

December 9 2020

I moved to Northern Idaho over two years ago seeking peace and solitude from the life I had always known and struggled to meld into. My life had always been fast paced, and configured around the right clothes, the right car, the right social circles and the right political beliefs. Come to find out…none of that ever really mattered to me. It took the wisdom of Idaho to bring me to that realization.

I have created a life in a fairy tale castle complete with more animals and unconditional love than I ever thought possible. I have since realized that the people I left behind never really knew me, nor did they care to try. And after two years….it finally doesn't matter anymore that they didn't. My heart is filled with love from natures most intriguing creatures, one of them being the magnificent moose.

I am inspired to draw on the story of ‘The Elephant Man’ when I am challenged by individuals regarding my relationship with my moose family. If you are not familiar with the story of The Elephant Man, from a young age, a gentleman by the name of Joseph Merrick had developed scoliosis, skull bone outgrowth, with skin protruding from his face and an overgrown right arm. He came to be known as the Elephant Man due to his appearance. His facial deformities led people to see Merrick as a “monster” and treated him as a threat to society. He was no such thing. He was a beautiful soul trapped in a deformed shell that people deemed dangerous out of sheer ignorance.

When I moved to Northern Idaho, I became intrigued with the notion that moose are dangerous, aggressive, deadly creatures. My heart didn't see that. I saw an animal, extremely misunderstood. Are they massive creations of mother nature? Yes. Should they be respected for their powerful strength and size? Yes. Are they natural born killers? No. I’ve read stories of aggressive moose and people running for their lives from a charging moose. No one seems to document the beginning of the encounter. What was the person doing when the moose charged at them? Were they provoking them? Were they hunting them? Were they trying to get ignorantly close to them while they were protecting their babies? Moose don't attack people by nature. They attack when they are threatened or feel unsafe.

I am not advocating for people to befriend moose if they encounter, them, or think my relationship with moose is normal. It isn't.

I have always felt a kinship to animals more so than people. As a child growing up in a dysfunctionally abusive home, my dogs, my rabbits, my guinea pigs, and my hamsters were my source of love. When there was yelling and fighting going on in the other room between my mother and father, I would sit in my room with my ‘critter family’ and read them stories from my collection of children's books. I learned love through them.

So it is no surprise that decades later, after marriage, raising a child, widowhood, and after becoming completely saturated with verbal and emotional abuse……I left that life behind, and still find more solace in four legged friendship than two.

People are welcome to judge what they see as reckless and dangerous.

But for me…it's simply a full circle moment in time with old friends who were there for me when I needed them the most.

I am blessed, and I am grateful for the acceptance and love these amazing animals continue to show me every day.

Before you judge the behavior of Gods creatures, perhaps you should try to see life through their eyes, and not allow your assumptions to dictate your behavior.

But that’s just my opinion. :)