Knowing my totem has helped me understand myself and the way I behave/respond in different situations. It has illuminated aspects of myself that were hidden or just beyond my reach that
have both served and hindered me throughout my life. Becoming acquainted with my totem has provided me with comfort in difficult or uncomfortable situations as I now have a knowing of why or what is contributing to the situation through my nature and the effect it has on the situation and others, and I can adapt more easily.
Since my totem has become visible to me, I have a feeling of calm and control around my nature and they way I respond and/or react. So, whilst I might not like the way I have reacted or responded I have a point of understanding about myself that offers an explanation. This does not mean that my totem is my excuse. On the contrary, it is my most trusted, loyal, supportive and loving teacher, where kindness translates to responsibility and accountability through love and culminates in the confidence to accept myself, good, bad, helpful, unhelpful, happy, sad, joyful, angry and have the encourage to face uncomfortable truths and the choice to change and develop beyond that or stay the same.
As I become more connected with my totem, I can see where the nurturing I receive supports or impacts my nature. I try to meet these discoveries with curiosity and enquiry resisting the urge to blame others for their influence on my nature. This is because I have come to understand that it is my nature that has provided the way for supportive/not supportive nurturing. It is my nature that has encouraged/discouraged responses/reactions from others, and it is my nature that is mine alone and if I know it, trust it and learn from it, I can determine how I am nurtured, how I am seen and known, and how I meet and respond to the world.
Finding my totem and getting to know and understand it has been the single most revelatory and defining factor in my personal and spiritual life development. It explains and knows me completely and that is a very comforting notion in a world of uncertainty, expectation, and increasing isolation.
~ AM BBS-Pysch, MDem, undertaking MCouns – NSW