The year of the rabbit hole first occurred to me during a foraging class. My teacher was describing the qualities of a plant she was holding and said, “I went down a rabbit hole,” and my funny brain lit up. I chuckled out loud in the class and offered no explanation. Since it is a few months into the year of the rabbit and the holiday of rabbits who lay eggs has recently passed, I feel I can finally open up about this.
I have been keeping it to myself. I like it that much and I don’t like the idea of people knowing it and then having the opportunity to judge it — but I’ve decided let it out now. I’m sure, like rabbits themselves, it will quickly grow and multiply into something far far out of my control. And I’m going to let it.
The last few years have been a time of unknowns for most of the world. Most people have had to grapple with feeling like they once had some concept of the future to finding out they had absolutely no idea what was ahead. Coming face-to-face with the unknown stopped a lot of people in their tracks. Many people were confronted by their darkest fears and swallowed by grief. Separation and isolation compounded these feelings, having no one else to turn to but the echoes of our own minds.
As we slowly are coming out of this time, testing this world in the way we feel is safest, we are in a new type of unknown territory. We have gone down the rabbit hole of our own thoughts and feelings for a couple years. Now, as we poke our heads out of own safe burrows, our soft little thoughts and feelings are showing. Not only that, the whole world looks surreal. We are struggling with the exposure of so many deep hurts to the earth and one another.
I want to send infinite love to each and every soft animal body who is bravely stepping through the gate of their own knowing and entering this world of the unknown. Let the moment be a question. Feel your feet against the earth with every step you take. See the sky as it changes from blue to grey to a mix of everything at once. Live in the now with me?
Let this year of the rabbit hole lead you to more questions. Let the answers go. Let the answers lead you to more questions.
If there is too much, then sit with that. Let the overwhelm swell and pass. Do not add more answers or questions to that flood. Just be in it. Return to the darkness of the rabbit hole and feel your soft animal body. Feel the weather pass. Take each moment one at a time. Be here too.
I want to invite this year to be the year of the rabbit hole. Where we can ask all the questions we need to and follow them wherever they go. Even if that’s right back to our burrows where we are safe.
And I hope more people can find safety this year. So many are homeless. So many are hurting. The world needs so much more softness and gentleness from people, even from ourselves to ourselves. Give that compassion when there is abundance to give.
Rabbits are abundant! Consider cultivating that abundance by giving to your own well of compassion within. Pay attention to that well. When it is near empty, retreat to the rabbit hole. Go gather with other soft animals who can help. If you do not feel safe with others, then find safety and compassion in your own way. Accept your way of being. When your well is full, this is an excellent time to find opportunities to share your abundance. Find your own way of sharing too. Like a spring cleaning, find what you have excess of in your rabbit hole and give that to others. Do you have excess hugs to give? Find people who want hugs! Do you have excess food to give? Find people who need food!
I guess for me, my rabbit hole is overflowing with words. So this is how I can give from my abundance today. As an editor and writer, words are what I cultivate in the darkness of my rabbit hole where no one can see me. I cultivate questions constantly and love questions. I love the rabbit hole of questions and I dive into that as often as I can get away with it.
So maybe I’ll leave you with a question too. My own questions, for me… How can I find fun new ways of playing with this year as the year of the rabbit hole? How can I expand my awareness, within, between, and beyond? How can I grow in love of my soft animal body and this soft animal life?