Congruency

I have not always told the truth. The overused white lie is my go-to justification for not hurting feelings, or worse, telling boldfaced lies for a benign convenience. Equines do not traffic in smarmy lies; black or white. When content; they nicker, sleep, graze and stand quietly together. When discontent; they bite, kick, pin ears, elongate nostrils and squeal. Their actions align with what they feel. I have spent too much time and money in workshops to learn this quality that equus possesses naturally: Congruence.

Congruence is an agreement between the head and the heart that is reflected in demeanor, ambiance, and speech. It is an internal state of harmony, and it is the only language equus trusts. This is a very simple way of being but can be difficult to achieve within the labyrinth of complex human relationships. Chief, our mule maestro, often quotes Mark Twain:

If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.

Chief tells me equines are not moralists. They have no ego hangups about who is right, what is right, or what should happen. They accept all of life with an instinctual equanimity. Whew!… I want a dollop of this clarity in my life! Living with the herd on the land we share, osmosis prevails, and hopefully, some equus mentality is rubbing off. In fact, I might be getting a little too direct for polite company. But Chief urges me on towards the freeing light of truth-telling and truth-being. He is a drill sergeant of exacting proportions.

Geronimo and Traveler, being mustangs, concentrate on the freedom facet of life. They both agree this is our most precious commodity, after our physical health. Geronimo says autonomous freedom is simple to achieve and pedantically quotes Oscar Wilde:

Be Yourself. Everyone else is taken.

Ha! Easy to say when you don’t care a fig about others are thinking of you. “Precisely!” says Geronimo, “Put on your big girl pants and be yourself.” Our little Navajo pony is getting a little big for HIS little boy pants.

Traveler, our wise elder, never quotes anyone, albeit he is extremely well-read. Paul and I are compiling a notebook of his philosophical musings, hoping this will eventually land us (as his agents) a lucrative contract with a major publishing company. Traveler is not motivated, nor is he impressed with his sizable grant money. Not fussed with imposed deadlines, he puts staring over the distant mesa at the top of his to-do list. He accepts humans, but once we turn incongruent, he loses both interest and respect, thereby his work lags. However, he granted permission to release one sage gem in advance of the publication of his book:

Drop the reins, and let’s go nowhere.

He is an esoteric Zen guy, living and breathing: congruency. One can palpably feel this when approaching him. A horse’s magnetic heart energy has been measured as being 5x larger than that of a well-adjusted human’s heart energy. When a human steps into an equine aura, we are inexplicably effected. This fact is verified by viable scientific studies.

Just entering into Traveler’s physical space, I find myself becoming congruent. My heart, in the presence of such a magnificent being, expands and embraces my intellectual head. A magical mindful experience, without the expense and drama of a workshop held on an exotic beach. Who cares about his lucrative book contract, the chap is exponentially paying his rent forward.

Traveler