A long time ago, in the first dream, a squirrel threatened my balance by biting down hard on my big toe and refusing to let go. I couldn't shake him off no matter how hard I tried. Throughout my life he has come and gone along the edges and in the corners. Since keeping a journal and making artwork, the squirrel and I have become friends.
It has been over 25 years since my original squirrel dream. After I was bitten, I began to understand the similarity between myself and the nature of the squirrel. I have a tendency to always be in a hurry, both physically and mentally. By darting back & forth between future possibilities and past memories, it was so easy to get out of sync and not be fully present. Once I stopped over analyzing everything, I could then began to accept my non-perfect self. Over the years, it became clear that for me to have a balanced life, I needed to put a greater amount of focus and energy into creating art. By keeping most of my squirrel behavior within the parameters of miniature making, my life became less stressful.
Often, in dreams, animals are a reflection of our habits and nature. The awareness of my own squirrel tendencies became clear through the process of remembering and writing down this series of dreams, Interestingly, many years later, I developed arthritis in my right big toe; exactly where I was bitten by the squirrel in my dream.