Turtle

I have a story to tell you.  Here is how it goes:
Some time ago, while sitting in my office, I was reflecting on a fact that many conversations happening in my counselling room are about some sort of slowing down.  Sometimes it is about working less and resting more, sometimes about watching the mind, about deeper breathing, sometimes about paying attention to the other, sometimes about listening or just being more present.

Then I had a thought: Wouldn’t it be nice to have a symbol for slowing down?  So the next idea I was approached by was – turtle! I became very excited with this idea and started to imagine tiny turtles made from, let’s say, brass or other type of metal. I promised myself to look around for them.

One week later or so I was walking down the street and noticed a beautiful store with arts and crafts made by artisans from around the world. And there they were: perfect tiny turtles made from clay, natural and black. I could not believe my eyes!

Since then I have bought many of them, later on I found wood turtles, glass turtles and jade turtles. I keep them in my desk’s drawer and every time a conversation about slowing down happens I invite the person to choose one of them.  We spend some time on creating particular meaning of the chosen turtle.  Later on, I have a chance to hear many stories people share with me about their tangible relationships with their turtles.