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Dragonfly Palm

The Touch of the Dragonfly

By Garrett Leland HansenPublished 4 years ago 4 min read
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My Spirit

The day was the 4th of July 2020. The site: the Channel of Lake Havasu City, AZ. A place which fluctuates with the holidays to become a wild party in a lazy river setting.

The only thing I knew I wanted to do that day was paddle my canoe along the channel, hang with my homies and have a general grand time. I got to the beach before the sun and did my morning yoga. Set up my outrigger canoe and commenced my celebration of the day. The smiles were numerous and the spectacle grand. And by lunch time i had already paddled for 7 hours!

I needed a break from being seated in the canoe so in the central area of the channel I pulled up by the boat docks and slipped myself into the water. While just treading water and stretching my body, a big electric blue dragonfly landed right on my nose!

Now I know it is a rather common occurrence to have bugs land on us throughout our adventures, but I have made it a personal quest of mine to catch dragonflies. And ever since I was little I cannot recount one time in which I actually nabbed one. Their so reactive and fast. But there this one was, right there on the tip of my nose. I could even feel it’s legs shifting positions against my skin. My ambitions had taught me how rare this moment was, so I simply let it sit there while so many various thoughts raced through my brain.

The central area of the channel was filled with the rumblings of boat engines and the commotion of the congregation whom gathered that day, so I wasn’t too concerned with being very quiet. I began talking to the blue dragonfly, and I was crossing my eyes trying to see it clearly. “I don’t know what you’re doing on my nose but you’re too close for me to see you”. Right then the dragonfly flew off and away.

I was slightly bummed but still grateful for the experience. Then I saw someone I thought I recognized and lifted my hand out of the water to wave, and the very same big blue dragonfly landed on my pinky. It looked straight at me and I just fell back into the conversation I was having with it.

“What are you trying to teach me?” It began wiggling it’s tail but it black pupils where still looking straight back at me. “Why are you moving your tail?” The dragonfly held its tail still and then moved it to the left. “Why are you pointing your tail left? What’s to the left?” Then I began turning myself in the water to the left, but nothing of import seemed to be in that direction. Then the dragonfly moved its tail and held it to the right.

I turned in the water to the right this time until the dragonfly’s tail straightened out once again as I completed my maneuver. Then the dragonfly pushed its tail back to the left, but straightened out when I was facing back down the middle of the channel. “Did we just learn how to talk to each other?” I asked rather honestly, and then the big electric blue dragon fly flew off again.

I hold my experiences with animals to a high regard, and peruse the details of those experiences for guidance in areas of life I cannot possibly have an answer for.

The spiritual meaning of the dragonfly is one of ancient wisdom and evolution. The dragonfly has a tenacity and is a voracious hunter of the skies and an insect-size scale.

The dragonflies I see on my adventures have always brought me smiles, and I wanted a way to remember such a viscerally intrinsic moment forever. This passed year has been rather daunting for myself personally, and for the world collectively. Pushing through the pain of a tattoo on my palm helped me truly relinquish some emotional weight I had been holding up, and helped me remember that we have more to do. More to see. More memories to create. Thank you for reading my story, now go be amazing :)

🤟🧡💙🐉 - Garrett

healing
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