"Oh My Gosh, You Are My Spirit Animal!"

So today I went to the downtown area of a nearby city in search of a record store. Eventually I stumped upon a window lined with records. I looked at the door where a "No stupid people allowed" sign hung. Out loud, I said, "I guess I can't go in." I didn't realize there was a lady behind me at the time, although she seemed to get a kick out of it. I pulled on the door handle but it wouldn't open. Peeking into the window, I saw no sign of human life.

CLOSED 

Since I had already fed $1.50 worth of quarters to the parking meter, I thought why not explore a bit! Next to the record store happened to be a resale store. The minute I stepped in, I felt at home. Old things bring me some odd sense of peace. It reminds me of simpler times: when people took pictures to capture memories and not there #OOTD, when people used phones for communication rather than to avoid it. While I didn't find anything to buy, I found a countless number of things I wanted to buy.

Afterwards, I found another rather cool store. It was some sort of mind, body, and spirit centered shop. I walked inside and was overwhelmed with the scent of incense. Buddhist figurines and bottled oils lined the shelves. I saw a rack filled with teeny ceramic animals. Lining the boxes that held the animals were cards, each naming an animal, it's meaning, and what it would add to your life.

I immediately knew I wanted one, and the $3.00 price tag helped a bit with that decision. I'm cheap...

After reading through all of the cards, I decided on three... seal, turtle, and unicorn.

"What the heck are spirit animals?"


Spirit animals, also referred to as animal totems, are there to guide you.

Liking a certain animal does not make it your spirit animal. Saying that Miley Cyrus is your spirit animal does not make her your spirit animal.

"What is my spirit animal?"

If you have some uncontrollable urge to have a spirit animal, go take an online quiz. But the truth is, that just isn't how it works. A spirit animal comes to you, not the other way around. Figuring out your spirit animal entails paying attention to the spirits around you and following the signs. If you are desperate to find out, I would suggest praying about it.

"Why did you spend your money on the ceramic animals then?"

I did not pick these animals with the mindset that they were my spirit guides. Spirit guides are not chosen by the individual. After reading what each animal represents and the wisdom it brings, I thought the various animal spirits could help guide me in certain aspects of life.

After the initial realization that each animal is supposed to offer something, I immediately looked for love. I'm a hormonal teenage girl, what else would I look for (aside from a college acceptance letter and book deal).

On top of that, I've been hearing the stories from one of my friends who happens to be experiencing her first love. She is far from a relationship person, so to see her so gaga over a boy is adorable. My friend also makes love sound like quite a bit of fun. Despite wanting it, I'm not going to rush it. Forced love isn't cute, it is doomed from the beginning.

So the ultimate reason I chose a seal is because the Seal Spirit supposedly brings love. Fingers crossed (and lips puckered *wink* *wink*).

The Seal Spirit is also supposed to teach you to listen to your inner voice. I basically have two constant inner voices, my overly-talkative conscience and then... well, overly-talkative me. Basically my brain is in constant debate.

Another thing that the Seal Spirit offers is encouragement to follow our dreams and desires. I am a sucker for anything along those lines. I constantly preach the importance of others following their dreams, but sometimes it is hard to do myself.

I was drawn to the turtle because it reminded me of my dad. While alive, he owned a turtle named Mitch. After my dad died, my uncle who had lived in Florida at the time took ownership of the little guy. A couple years later when I visited my uncle, the turtle was missing. I was told that Mitch ran away to the ocean at the time. Somewhere around the age of 14 and 15 the truth slipped from my mom... apparently she assumed I had figured out that the journey from Tampa to the ocean was a bit far for a turtle... I hadn't.

The Turtle Spirit is supposed to bring longevity. With my everlasting thirst for life, this is one thing I hope to have. There are so many places I want to see, things I want to do, and feelings I hope to experience before I die.

The Turtle Spirit also brings protection. This also reminded me of my dad, as he is no longer physically present to protect me. Whether it be emotional or physical, I think a bit of added protection is always needed.

Stability is another key thing the Turtle Spirit carries. The world is fast-paced and sometimes it is hard to handle the constant change. My life has been a bit rocky, so a bit off stability, particularly financially, would be welcomed.

Ah, unicorns. How can you not love them?!

One of the thing the Unicorn Spirit brings is protection from evil. If there is one animal you wouldn't want to fight, a unicorn should be number one. Do you really want to come into contact with that pointy horn? I surely don't.

The Unicorn Spirit also inspires imagination, creativity, and enchantment. Due to my love for the arts, imagination and creativity are pretty high up on my list of priorities. Without them, my writing would lack luster and my drawings would be dull.