The Walkabout
Recently, a friend asked if I could help her find a lost dog.
Never mind that the dog was 3,500 miles away. Never mind that the dog had already been on the run for several days, in the bitter cold, before my friend reached out to me. And never mind that I was torn, wanting to say “no” out of insecurity, and wanting to say “yes” and help.
But it’s hard to say “yes” knowing you can fail and disappoint everyone involved. And it’s really hard to say “no” understanding that people are scared and frantic - not to mention the dog may be in danger. In some situations, calling an animal communicator may be the last hope.
For those reasons, plus a few more, lost animal cases can be really hard to handle. For me, my caregiver soul-type can make the situations even more challenging because I want to give everyone all the helping energy I can summon. Lost animals require that much energy and then some, which can be detrimental to a communicator like me who needs energy to connect. My soul type also means I want, so much, to make sure everyone is happy, safe and healthy. And that’s not always the outcome. Many times, the animal runs for reasons that perplex their humans. It can be hard for us to understand that animals, too, have free will. We actually don’t have as much control over them as we think, which can be hard for many to accept.
Take this case, for instance. Georgina may have been”lost” to her humans, but she was very much in control of the situation. She had some specific things she wanted to do including sharing a few life lessons with a number of us involved. So it’s a good thing I decided to answer my friend with a “yes,” or else I would have missed out on an amazing teaching.
Georgina exited her caretaker’s house on a very cold Wednesday in Eastern Wisconsin. Her human, George, had died the week before and no one heeded her persistent barks over the course of several days, trying to warning passersby that something was terribly wrong inside her home. It wasn’t until George’s ex-wife, Kelly, thought it was odd he hadn’t been in touch with their young daughters and went to check on him. She, sadly, discovered his body and two very upset and frantic dogs.
Kelly took Georgina and her pack mate, Nova, to stay with her and the kids. Georgina’s grief, however, quickly became unconsolable. In fact, it was crushing. Connecting with her as soon as I told my friend “yes,” immediately left me unable to breathe. I felt an oppressive weight on my chest, my head clouded thickly and my whole body slumped forward. I also heard a lot of loud noise. It was really unsettling. Think the heaviest of heavy metal music on top of the intense sound from a construction site and you’ll get the idea of how unnerving and overwhelming it was. The ability to think clearly was gone. I heard Georgina say “I can’t think, I can’t grieve, I have to go, I have to get out, I have to be alone.”
So Georgina left the house and went on what she later dubbed as her “walkabout.” It last two full two weeks. This was intense period for all, fraught with angst, joy, sadness, ego, and spirituality and growth. There were days when I could connect with her and hear what she needed from her searchers. And there were many days when we both needed space and connection was very short or was completely silent.
The silent days were incredibly hard. I cycled between doubt in myself and my abilities and fear of disappointing the women who were taking time off of work to search for Georgina. But, on those days, my guides were adamant that I let Georgina be alone. My guides would step right in front me, arms outstretched and say “no, not today, you need to rest and so does she. This is not up to you.” They would remind me, “Double check your ego. Detach from any attachment to the outcome you are building. Let Georgina lead, not the other way around. Focus on serving her, not telling her what to do.” They would lovingly reassure me that things would be as they were meant to be and remind me to take care of myself as well - not to overspend my energy. “You need to reset and reground while Georgina has some space as well. Check back later.”
And therein lies the biggest lesson Georgina was teaching me - let the animals lead. When I surrender to this, I become their voice. And this allows my own voice to strengthen. Because when the animals know they can speak through me - without barriers, hinderance or interpretation on my part, my human clients truly hear what their animals are sharing with them. That allows my clients to have more confidence in the information they receive as well as in my ability to help them and their pet. This, in turn, allows me to build my reputation which allows me to help more people and their animals. And, I can share my experiences with others to grow the understanding of this type of work for more to find and use.
In fact, this lesson of letting Georgina lead was demonstrated time and again with the four women with whom I was working. The more Georgina’s requests flowed through me, the more the women searching for her could make that information actionable in the best way to support Georgina in her walkabout. The more pieces of information we could gather, the more they could deliver for Georgina. And the more they were able to deliver, the better Georgina was able to grieve. When I heard Georgina say “I need to be alone” and I shared it with these four women - they were quickly able to disperse another large search party that would have caused Georgina to run deeper into more remote areas. We were able to give her the space to grieve and walk the shores of Lake Michigan with her in-spirit-human (who was also guiding our little group so he could have the time with Georgina as well). I know that had we not been able to hear her requests and provide the space she needed to grieve, she would never have accepted our invitation to come back.
And she did. Two weeks after she left Kelly’s house, I connected with Georgina just before I went to bed, asking her how she was doing. I expected to hear “I’m safe and warm” and feel her full belly as I did almost every other night. This time, however, I simply heard, “I’m ready.” I immediately let the women know. While they were unable to locate her the next day, she did watch them. In connecting with her while the women were waiting for her, inviting her to come to them, I heard her say “potato chips” and I could hear the crinkle of a bag. I relayed that to the team and sure enough, the women indeed had some with them. As it grew dark, they scattered some under a pine tree hoping she would enjoy them that night.
The next day, my contacts received a call from two women who were watching Georgina as she sat under that exact pine tree in the state park. The team of four women quickly responded to the call, armed with more potato chips. When they saw Georgina, still calmly sitting under the tree, one of the women, Pam, slowly approached her. She remained seated. Pam slowly extended her hand with a potato chip, which Georgina gingerly accepted. Pam then asked Georgina to accept the leash, at which point, Georgina bowed her head and allowed the slip leash to slide over her head an on to her neck. And at that point, she stood up and led Pam back to her waiting, warm truck.
I am so grateful this story has a happy ending. I am certain that Georgina’s wisdom and guidance made it so.
Georgina
Post-Walkabout Nap