The Bug Series (even though I’m not a fan): The Ant in the Shower

How do you feel about bugs? In my opinion… blechwalaugghh. (Translation: I don’t like them.)

Of course, I appreciate bugs and know they’re an integral part of the ecosystem and that we wouldn’t exist without them and at the same time; blechwalaugghh. 

All antagonistic feelings aside, I’ve had enough interesting encounters with the tiny ones to know that there’s more going on there than what it seems. I’ve learned some really valuable lessons from the creepy crawlers, and so I decided to do a petite ode to them.

Today’s lesson comes from a little ant in the shower.

In the house we lived in a few years ago, we had a gourmet shower downstairs. It had multiple shower heads, beautiful earth tone tiles and lots of space. It also had a window near the ceiling that opened into the back yard, which meant that sometimes bugs found it an enticing refuge from the outdoors. 

On such a day, I was happily enjoying the luxury of the hot water spouting from various faucets when I noticed a little ant wandering high on the tiles. It was headed on a downward journey and I figured that if it continued its course, it was headed for the drain.

Despite not loving bugs, I do my best not to let any die when I can help it and so it became my mission to rescue this ant by redirecting it to the window. Being an ant, it was not very cooperative. Of course, I could have picked it up or let it crawl on me, but that’s out of the question; I generally have a 6 foot radius for bugs.

And thus ensued a dramatic pas de deux whereby I tried to usher the ant in the right direction toward freedom and away from a watery death, while it ignored all my efforts. I picked up various objects like the soap, a razor, a shampoo bottle and used them (unsuccessfully) to set up barricades to any direction other than the drain. 

I also tried reasoning with the tiny fellow, using dulcet tones to encourage it to redirect itself to the garden just beyond the shower. When that didn’t work, I became a little more forceful in my motivation. Nothing seemed to be working. Did the ant just have a death wish?

Eventually, it became clear that the ant was going to do what it wanted and I couldn’t force it to return to freedom. I ended the shower and left said ant up to its own devices.

As I reflected on the experience (here comes the lesson), it occurred to me that the ant was like a human and I was like the Universe (said in the most humble way possible). 

Here’s what I mean. The Universe is always in our favour; it wants for us what we want for ourselves. It wants us to grow, thrive and expand, just like I wanted the ant to be in the best environment possible. 

And yet, the ant had free will. I could only offer it guidance toward what I could see was best for it, but it still got to choose where it went and how it did it. 

Isn’t that like life? As humans, we can run around, feeling lost and alone, while simultaneously, there’s a great benevolent force that’s trying to show us the next best step. We get to choose if we receive the guidance or not. The important thing to remember is that help is there. It may not seem like help; it might even seem terrifying, but despite that, there it is, looking out for us and trying to show us the most direct path to freedom.

In the great shower of life, where the current threatens to submerge us and send us down the drain, the window is open and Universe is showing us the way (without overtly picking us up and throwing us out the window, because… we didn’t come here for interference, we came here for growth and evolution).

Whatever became of the ant, you might wonder? I have to trust that it found its way out. It wasn’t there the next time I showered, and so hopefully its descendants are still building their ant hills in that lovely backyard.

How can you tune into the Universe’s guidance this week? One actionable practice is to open up your heart and listen to your intuition. It’s totally trying to show you the next best step. Your intuition is quiet, persistent and it speaks to you in neutral to positive. Your intuition will never make you feel bad about yourself (that’s your ego that’s just trying to keep you safe by maintaining as much familiarity as possible). 

What ideas keep coming back to you? What are the whispers of your heart? If you’re looking for your next step, whether it’s big or small, you can trust that there’s a giant presence that loves you, wants the best for you and is doing its best to show you very clearly what to do. 

May you have a wonderful week opening up to all the guidance that’s there.

With a deluge of love and steadfast courage,

Christina

>Creator of Courageous Self-Care

>Non-entomologist (because the less I have to deal with bugs, the better)

>Seeker of spiritual truths, even if they come from bugs

PS - Welcome to all the new readers this week! And welcome back to all the readers who’ve been here for a while. I appreciate you all.

PPS - The first Body Awake Yoga class on zoom went really well and attendees loved it. As a result, I’ve decided to offer free classes for the next couple of months. We’ll meet on Friday mornings at 9am mountain three weeks/month in March and April. If you’d like to get access to the live classes and the recordings, click this link to register. And since people have asked, feel free to share the link with friends and loved ones.