HAVE YOU EVER LOOKED AT A FEATHER REALLY CLOSELY? HAVE YOU SEEN IT'S EVERY LINE , EVERY STRAND THAT MAKE UP IT'S OVERALL SHAPE, IT'S EVERY IMPERFECTION THAT GIVE IT IT'S CHARACTER, THE SPINE AND SHAFT THAT GIVES IT IT'S STRENGTH ? AS A WOMAN, I SEE MYSELF( and other women) IN THIS FEATHER. MY SOFTNESS CAN BRING COMFORT AND HEALING TO THOSE WHO NEED IT AND ARE WILLING TO ACCEPT MY GIFTS AND TREAT ME WITH RESPECT. YET MY CENTER IS STRONG,STRAIGHT AND TRUE, AS IS MY HEART , MY SPIRIT AND MY SPRITUALITY. DESPITE THIS STRONG, RIGID CORE I AM STILL FLEXIBLE ENOUGH TO LEARN NEW WAYS,NEW IDEAS...TO TEACH AND LISTEN WITH KINDNESS AND OPENNESS. EVERYONE OF THOSE LINES IN THIS FEATHER THAT IS ME, REPRESENTS EVERY LIFE EXPERIENCE , LESSON AND TEACHING I HAVE HAD. SOME SPOTS WORN THIN BY REPEATED LESSONS AND HARDSHIPS THAT COME WITH LIVING THIS HUMAN LIFE. THESE IMPERFECTIONS ARE MY CHARACTER AND PERSONALITY....MY STRENGTHS AND MY WEAKNESSES, EACH IN BALANCE WITH THE OTHER. I, LIKE THIS FEATHER , CAN HELP IN MY HUMBLE AND SMALL WAY TO BRING HARMONY AND HEALING TO THIS DIFFICULT LIFE HERE ON TURTLE ISLAND. I CAN BRING STRENGTH TO THE WEAK, COURAGE TO THE MEEK, COMFORT TO GRIEVING, TRUTH TO THE CONFUSED, AND PEACE TO THE SCATTERED HEART AND SPIRIT. ALL THIS AND SO MUCH MORE MY FEATHER HAS TAUGHT ME... AND SO I HAVE BECOME.... Niibiishan