Today was a day I took flight in a new direction. Age 54 and with half my life of parenting under my belt and my last child about to fly the nest, I chose a tattoo as my marker of my menopausal moments which are part of my current rite of passage of flying my own nest of what was, to what is becoming.
My tattoo symbol is the feather. A spirit messenger totem – and one that asks me to continue my close intuitive, conversational and enquiring nature with my inner spirit and to open my senses to promptings. It represents a bird flying the nest – reminding me that I have watched 5 of my 6 children fly the coop while the next one is slowly finding his wings in preparation for flight somewhere in the next few months. It is also the sign of my Dad in spirit as he reveals himself through the sound of his / a bird’s whistle.
The feather too lead me 7 years ago to my soulmate Pierre with whom I got engaged this week. After a chance meeting with a Native American man, who presented me one day with a feather, and then a Maori man who did the same, this seemed too much of a coincidence to ignore, with both men being strong, salt of the earth types with strong cultural roots and leadership and warrior-like qualities. This series of feather totems was followed by the third man, my lovely French man, arriving on our blinddate with a “feather /fern” tattoo on his arm and his “warrior” type energy. His cat too, named “Plume,” (French for feather) sealed the deal! Soulmates coming together in that moment was meant to be.
So fresh to being tattooed, having never ventured there before, and just having celebrated my birthday engagement and entering a “new beginnings year” numerologically, it felt right to be marking my life’s milestones today in symbols at this pivot point in my life.
Whilst noticing the physical discomfort of being “inked”, I chose to drift into reminescing and connecting in Spirit to important people in my life who had passed. I wandered through my maternal grandparents’ place and recollected memories, smells, rooms, and reminders of them both. I headed into my paternal grandparents’ place and reminded myself of the “haven” it had been for many guests. I revisited the house where my husband (now ex) and I brought up the 3 oldest of our kids and the memories of all things family. I cried in this moment. My Spirit recognised many aspects of the people, places, pain-points and life’s pleasurable moments which had placed high on my life’s impact list, and the ultimate healing message today was this:
“You have given all Janelle.”
Who thought having a tattoo could be a healing moment? Today, it felt some “lightness” came over me after many years of pain, struggle and transitions as well as so much joy, and this message soothed my soul, like a mother’s light touch or that of a feather.
www.janellefletcher.com