Talking to Stuffed Animals

The concept of young children talking to animals or unseen "friends" is something that has been established for a very long time. Young children are much more open than adults to the unusual. They have not yet learned that so many things simply "cannot be". Thus, it is not that unusual for young children to have invisible (to adults) playfriends, or even to recount previous lifetimes. As they grow up however, this ability becomes smothered by societal constraints, and the adult becomes a confirmed skeptic.

Actually, we are surrounded all the time by spirits. All things have spirit. All are infused with spirit from the Great Mystery. We can communicate with the spirits of plants, animals, stones, etc., if we sincerely wish to, are respectful, and are willing to try.

Talking to stuffed animals is fine for children, you say, but I'm an adult. I don't play with toys!

Why? Why must we abandon everything of our childhood just because we have reached a certain number of calendrical years? Consider stuffed animals, for instance. They do not make any demands on us. They don't ask for food, water, or clean cage-liners. They will listen to anything that you wish to tell them, and will sit quietly and never argue with you.

Stuffed animals are soft and cuddly. Why is cuddly important? Remember the experiments that have been done on monkeys, where some of them were taken away from their mothers and put in empty cages? They had a severe time throughout their lives, adjusting. But the monkeys taken from their mothers and put in cages with a simulation of a mother (a wood and fur object) held onto the object as if it were the natural mother, and did not develop as many behavior problems later in life.

We all have a need to hold and be held. Holding a stuffed animal can help satisfy that need. Real pets are nice of course, and can interact on a verbal level with you. But what happens if you are allergic to pets, or if you live where no pets are allowed? No place bars stuffed animals! Further, stuffed animals will talk to you. The talking will not of course, be verbal, but communicating verbally is not the only way to communicate. We all receive messages that are non-verbal. Have you ever answered a phone, just knowing who was on the other end? You received some form of non-verbal, informational communication. Stuffed animals can likewise talk to you in their own way, if you are willing to listen.

AN EXERCISE

Go to a store that has stuffed animals, preferably when there aren't a whole lot of people around. You want to be able to concentrate and listen rather than deal with people, at least for the moment. Look the stuffed animals over. See if any of them say they want to go home with you! Yes. Stuffed animals will talk to you. Not on a verbal level, but on a feeling level. You can look at thirty animals, for example, and find only one who will really want to go home with you. Buy that animal if you can afford it.

Take the stuffed animal home. Listen to it for its name. The animal will tell you his or her name. Maybe not right away, but pretty soon after you bring it home. My wife and I, for example, have over thirty stuffed animals, and every single one has given us his or her own name.

Maybe it sounds a little strange, and maybe it sounds a little foolish. So what? Why does everything in life have to be deadly serious? Why does fun become so highly controlled when you become an adult? Stuffed animals are wonderful creatures, good companions, and easily available.

Take home a stuffed animal today!