encouragement from crab

i was tagged in a facebook post by a woman whose friend is having surgery for breast cancer, with a request for sending love and encouragement from one woman to another, so her friend would arrive home to a pile of cards and well wishes. it is easy to ignore such a post, because i think it makes us face our own fears, and what do you even say anyway, and then there is the fact that i don’t even know this woman.

but i do know her on some level, don’t i?

aside from the fact that she is a friend of a friend, we’re all one, when it comes right down to it. so i decided to snail mail it up, sent her a mix cd, a buoy quote in a card that i printed, and some beach sand in a film canister. it felt nice to share, and it prompted me to do a teensy amount of writing as well, which i will also share here, in case anyone else can use some encouragement today.

this crab jumped out of the card pile to come to you and i figured out why. cancer and crab are written together in the stars, but i see another layer of meaning. crab wears protective armor on the outside, and follows the moons and tides just the way all of us women do in the salt water cycle of our blood and tears. what’s inside is vulnerable and soft, but crab is tenacious, knowing how to hold on, clinging to rocks as challenging waves wash over, knowing when the best way forward is sideways. crab intuits what needs to be shed, and though it can be extremely vulnerable when it is exposed, it replaces its armor, a little bit stronger each time, taking what it needs to rebuild it from the healing waters of the ocean surrounding it.

i wanted to send you a little beach sand and ocean healing magic, from one woman to another.

3 comments to encouragement from crab

  • Lau

    !@#$*! Babe. That is an amazing snail mail. Amazing writing and meaning. What a special gift to come home to and I’m sure the love and support and positive energy will be healing for this woman.

  • mamaC

    This really speaks to me. Your observations and perspective give a feeling of inspiration and leave me feeling like something sturdy is being built, inside….a renewed awareness of valuing things as they are, or seeing the good and beautiful in how(ever) they are. Plus, as a fire sign living in a house full of water signs (partner and daughter are both Pisces fish and my sweet boys are Cancer crabs), I really am fond of crab & water imagery, even though that’s about as deep as I go with astrological things. I like your card very much! O has just started working on stamping, and also on carving stamps and wood blocks for printing, at Waldorf high school.

  • camp boss

    what a kick ass card!!!I guess if the whole scientist job thing ever actually goes up in smoke you can always make cool cards, you know i would buy them!! 🙂
    AND since i am again late to the comment party…..HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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