Two of my favorite signs of Spring and a new season of growth are the little baby corn sprouts as they begin to emerge in the fields and the two geese and their goslings that appear every year by the retention pond and grass near a local grocery store. Both just make my heart sing; winter is over and Spring is on the way!

In April, our assignment for the monthly visual journal class I am taking, was to determine an animal we wished to draw and research symbolism for the animal. Geese quickly came to mind because I had been checking the pond with each trip to the grocery store, anxiously awaiting the arrival of this year’s family. I researched symbolism for geese and found it quite interesting. Geese represent family, teamwork, loyalty. They are resilient, adaptable, and are determined to weather life’s changes with grace. As a totem they might represent that it may be time to take flight and begin a new journey. Birds in general represent messengers, in Native American and many spiritualities, or that there is a message to pay attention to or watch for. In Christian spirituality they represent Spirit. I learned this week, in a blog I will mention in a bit, that in Celtic Spirituality the goose, rather than a dove, represents the Holy Spirit. In this form, the goose is loud and demands our attention.

Part of my decision was also influenced by one of my favorite poems by Mary Oliver, Wild Geese. especially with the lines as the poem ends, “the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting – over and over announcing your place in the family of things.” (Written and published in 1986 in her book Dream Work). So with the decision made I found an image to model and prepared for our workshop. The intention for the class was to practice drawing images and then in the “journal” page let our hearts, and creative tools like pens or watercolors, express what the animal is saying to us. I have included, below in this post, the image I selected on Facebook, from a Mary Oliver poetry group, to model and my initial pencil drawings. The journal page is a work in progress.

In May some additional things happened that remind me that the wild geese are still calling for my attention. Last week, on Pentecost Sunday, I attended a virtual retreat by my friend Judith Valente titled “The Spirituality of the Poetry of Mary Oliver”. It was my second time attending this presentation by Judy but there were new insights and treasures as I expected. It was a delight to listen to Mary Oliver read her poem, Wild Geese, in one of the video clips Judy shared. In Oliver’s poetry, Judith reminded us there is a similarity to monastic practice and a consistent theme to be reverently being aware, to pay attention and to be astonished. In all her work, Judith said, there is a wake up call to reflect on who or what is calling us to live joyfully.

Then this week I received the monthly email from Mary DeTurris Poust, with the blog title “Welcoming the Wild Goose”. Mary shared a recent experience giving a retreat in Maryland in which she felt like she was living inside the Mary Oliver poem I mentioned above, “in which the ‘world calls to you like the wild geese — harsh and exciting.'” The honking and distraction of the geese during the entire retreat offered, to Mary, an analogy of Spirit in our lives. She said we often wait for the quiet whisper of Spirit and don’t want the incessant, unrelenting and loud voice of the Holy Spirit calling us to something new. Reflecting on Pentecost, Mary DeTurris Poust asked: “How often do we do just that, push away the loud and insistent call of the Holy Spirit because we don’t like the message or the delivery?” Can we be open to Spirit no matter how we are called? Can we listen and respond even if the message might be asking us to consider something new in our lives? Both Judith’s retreat and Mary’s blog provide additional considerations for my journal page. I begin this journey of bringing May to a close with great questions to ponder regarding how the Spirit might be calling me this summer and beyond.

How do you hear Spirit calling out to you and inviting you to something more?

It doesn’t take long for the corn in the fields around me to establish itself and emerge as long lanky stalks or the goslings to lose their baby cuteness and look more like their “mom and dad”. My spirit loses a bit joy of watching the transition of both as Spring dwindles and Summer begins. While I found the symbolism of the wild geese interesting, I also found it quite telling for this phase I seem to be going through with an intense calling to be seeking something more and find my place in the world. Rather than lose the internal fire for new growth, when life seems to be stagnant or difficult, I can try to be more aware and look for reminders to live life more joyfully.

So, this Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer, I am grateful to Judith Valente, Mary DeTurris Poust, Mary Oliver and the Wild Geese reminders in my life, to let myself “love what it loves” and continue to look for my place in the “family of things”.

Blog Photo: The geese and their gosling family a couple of years ago

Additional photos below from my Visual Journal pages: