Last Updated on March 6, 2023 by the thought method co.

The first animal that popped into mind was a bunny.

A few years ago, I was going through therapy for trauma and in a session I was having trouble articulating how I felt. A visualization came to mind. I told the therapist to image that I was a bunny in a field sniffing wildflowers, hopping around in complete peace and tranquility. The sun was shining and I would lie in the field watching the clouds float by, feeling the sun on my fluffy cheeks.

Other animals, attracted to the beauty of the field, would come into the field and ask me about it. Some were nice and welcome to stay. Them staying in the field changed nothing for me except that I would run into a friendly face every once in a while.

But others would overstay their welcome. These toxic interlopers would try to control how the field and I lived. They would try to pluck the flowers, and a dark cloud would come over the once sunny sky. Eventually, I would watch the field burn and the life of the field turn to ash and soil.

After the interloper took all they could, they would leave, and I would rebuild the field.

Every time I rebuilt the field, a lion would move into it. I lived in harmony with the lion but it made the toxic strangers uncomfortable so that they became less and less and every time I had to rebuild became easier and quicker. I became a peaceful, happy bunny with the force of lions.

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In our society, strength is idolized. People say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and when choosing an animal, most people will probably choose a lion or something symbolizing strength. Being born on the cusp of Leo, and considering other events in my life, would make sense for me to say I am a lion, too.

But if there weren’t bad actors and unfortunate pain, I wouldn’t need to be so strong. After having brain surgery and learning how to walk again, a nurse told me I had the greatest will to live that she has ever seen. My brain surgeon told me I experienced the worse pain a human can feel, worse than childbirth.

And after 20 years of mental and physical abuse, surviving an attempted murder by my father in my childhood home, therapists have told me it’s shocking how functioning I am.

External factors out of my control could have had the power to take me away from who I am, and a society that idolizes strength had the power to influence how I define myself, but through everything, the only thing that kept me going was being true to myself. I am tired of highlighting strength, because I am so much more.

So, I compare myself to a bunny in a field who leads with love, commands lions, and just wants to sniff wildflowers and take naps.