Not the Time, Not the Place

Have you noticed the similarities between animals and people? While watching “mommy TV” (which is what the kids call my TV show preferences), I saw part of a show about lions. While male lions protect their pride, female lions do most of the hunting. Once they take down an animal on the prairie, they all rush in to enjoy the feast. Normally the King of the Jungle eats first, and the rest of the pride follows his lead.

The show revealed how the cubs and females tried to share in the meal as the males ripped away chunks of meat. At one point, one of the babies did something to earn a gentle swat from the massive paw of its papa. The baby, in all of its miniature cuteness, had the gall to swat back! Maybe the pair wrestles when things get slow on the prairie, but returning daddy’s swat during dinner is a dangerous no-no. Here’s another daring decision:   

                                          https://youtu.be/SoDmvuHZQEQ  

Can you say, “playing with fire?” The narrator said he was defending his territory, but it looked like playtime to me. I’m not sure his “playmates” enjoyed the fun. One slip of the hand and things could have turned deadly. Sometimes we head out in a direction that makes sense, but by the end of the road, we wind up on an unexpected path. In daily life, how do you know that you’re making the right choices?                       

What Defines You ?

Is there one animal that defines you?  What about the lion for its courage, or the bear for its strength—maybe it’s the cheetah for its speed? 

We often use make-up, clothes and hair styles to guide how we want the outside world to view us.  Sometimes we take this practice to the next level.  Females pierced their ears lobes and later, men followed suit.  Men got tattoos and woman followed suit, then both sexes expanded beyond ear lobes to… just about everywhere! 

Perhaps the next level of self-expression is body modification.  People are visiting establishments where there are technicians who insert devices beneath the skin to create this new body art.  One man who performs these procedures on “patients” manufactures his own tools because there are few medical instruments that satisfy his surgical needs.  Of course, as with piercings and tattoos there is a wide range of personal expression using body modification.  Check out this video to see how one man chose to combine piercings, tattoos and body modification.     

Interesting, huh?

So, if you could wear a symbol, special tattoo, or piece of artwork on your forehead for one day, what would you choose to define yourself to the world?