Healing Journey an Inspiration from Turtle Totem Symbolism

The turtle totem has always been present in my life since I was young. It wasn't until later that I actually formed an appreciation for its wisdom. Turtle's wisdom can be a wonderful addition on our  path. It teaches us about moving with the flow of life, having patience, learning tolerance, and how we perceive time. 

Healing Journey with the Turtle Totem by Jeanne Fry

Our journey in life is full of lessons, challenges, and joys. It has its ups and downs. One of the most important lessons we can learn from Turtle is to be consistent on the path, even when it feels like a roller coaster ride. It reminds us to just keep getting up every day and moving toward our dreams and goals. Some days may be harder than others, and some will be truly magical. It teaches us not to become consumed with the dramas, but to keep our sense of peace while we navigate. As long as we stay grounded, we can keep a perfect balance between our heart and our mind, producing positive choices as we travel this journey.

My newest painting, "Healing Journey", focused on the turtle totem. Within the painting, the turtle's shell is a map, representing our journey, reminding us of where we are going. This mixed media piece uses the addition of Golden's Fiber Paste to create mountains on the landscape (to represent our challenges). The turtle is surrounded by healing spirals, to represent the healing that occurs in our life as we navigate the journey.

Detail in Healing Journey Painting by Jeanne Fry

The Original of this painting has sold.It is available as an Art Print in our Fine Art America online shop here
Healing Journey with the Turtle Totem Art Print

Turtle Totem Whispers Wisdom, The Story and Painting

She took long walks in the woods every afternoon. Her movements were a slow pensive wandering, while her mind was racing like a marathon runner. She was not lost, but she was searching...asking...open to guidance. There was a space in heart where discouragement lived, and that space seemed to be  becoming a permanent resident.She had been working so hard to bring her dreams to fruition, so hard in fact that she had fallen out of balance. It was as if she had blinders on and only saw one path, one road, one way. Opportunities had become limited, for while she was looking this "one way", she didn't see all that was around her. After time she started to believe that there were no opportunities, and she slipped into a mode of scarcity.

While all of these thoughts swirled through her mind during her walk, she sat down on an old log that was laying on the forest floor. Surrounded by the lush botanical garden in the woods, with delicate ferns tickling her cheek, and flower buds whisking against her ankle, she closed her eyes.

She took a deep breath in smelling the sweetness all around her, and took a deep breath out, relaxed her shoulders and let the worries escape. Everything became still in the forest, not a bird chirp or a squirrel rustling, just stillness. And she heard a whisper.

Turtle Totem Whispers Wisdom, a Contemporary Folk Art Painting by Jeanne Fry

A turtle slowly stepped into view from the fern growth. Familiar it seemed. She thought back to childhood and how often turtles were in her life. The turtle whispered, and although it's mouth did not move, she could hear the words. "You are protected. You are nurtured. You are taken care of and watched over." "Everything you want and need is available to you in this abundant universe." "Remember the circle child, the flow of life, the giving and receiving, the balance." "Open your eyes and your heart". Then the turtle slowly turned and walked away.

Her Turtle Totem had returned. That old sense of connectedness returned. And that space in her heart that  discouragement had rented, was now vacated leaving room for hope and confidence.

She stood up from the log and bent down to straighten up where she had been. She stroked the ferns, pulling dead leaves from them and picked up small twigs and rubbish, leaving it better than how she had found it.

She took a deep breath in, and out, and felt her eyes widen to see more than she had seen in a long time. She saw Hope.

Thank you my Turtle Totem.

This story I wrote one evening, was the inspiration of my painting, "Turtle Totem Whispers Wisdom".
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