Are some lives more important than others?
There was a very large wasp inside the porch one day last summer.
The wasp was at a sliding screen door that I never open, although the inner glass door was open that day.
It appeared very upset. It felt trapped.
I tried to speak with it, but it was already too upset to listen. I sensed a great deal of anger and frustration coming from the wasp, so I left it alone for a while.
I locked the cats inside the house so the wasp couldn’t come further into our living space. Then I opened the sliding screen door about 2 inches so the wasp could get out. All it needed to do was go to the end of the door, and it would be free.
As I watched the wasp pacing back and forth from one side of screen to the other, I realized it was never going to discover the opening.
The screen door’s metal frame was, in width, twice the length of the wasp’s body. The wasp needed to take just 2 more steps when it reached the frame, and it would be free. But each time it came to the metal frame it turned away .
So I tried explaining this to the wasp. I sent it telepathic images about which way to go and how far to go.
I felt the wasp’s incredulity that I wanted to help it and not to kill it. It didn’t trust me. It couldn’t find the opening and soon decided I must be lying.
I needed a new approach.
I picked up an old newspaper, folding it to an easy length for me to handle. When the wasp got close to the door frame at the open edge, I placed the edge of the newspaper against the screen, preventing the wasp from retreating more than a few steps.
The wasp saw the barrier and turned to go back towards the open end. I kept encouraging it verbally and telepathically not to give up.
I carefully and slowly moved the paper closer to the wasp, narrowing the space the wasp had available to move in the “wrong” direction, i.e., away from the opening.
As the wasp moved back and forth, I kept narrowing the space in which the wasp could retreat. Soon it found the opening and flew away.
I received a telepathic “thank you” filled with surprise from the departing wasp.
The Wasp’s Lesson
The wasp’s behavior raised some important questions for me about myself.
- Do I sometimes fail to see opportunities because I’m stuck in rigid thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors?
- Do I hold myself back because I’m unwilling to take a risk or a leap of faith?
- Are these some of the ways I trap myself in limitation?
Every living being has something to teach us about ourselves. This is one reason why honoring all life is so vital to our own well-being.
If I had killed the wasp, would I have thought to ask these questions and move forward with this lesson?
And what did the wasp learn?
It had an experience in which a human helped it instead of harming it. That experience became part of “wasp consciousness.”
This alone might not change how wasps behave towards humans, but it did shift the energies of human/wasp relationships just a tiny bit. And as you may recall, an accumulation of tiny bits of energy changes contribute ultimately to make a big shift.
Wonderful story and lesson. Thank you. Reminds me of the star fish parable (Loren Eisley is the originator, apparently): https://starfishproject.com/the-parable/
Even if you made a tiny shift to wasp behavior, you made a difference to that wasp.
Thanks for the reference to the starfish story. I had read it before, but had forgotten all about it. It’s a good reminder that each individual is important, and that goes for humans, too.
Hi Nedda,
great to find your post. Haven’t heard from you for awhile, i hope all is well.
Yes, have had similar experiences. I usually just end up taking a big glass and a card and catching it by placing the glass over the insect and sliding the card between the glass and the surface it is on, so I can safely take it outside. i like your reflections, good questions !!
Much love,
Paulinka
Thank you Nedda for sharing this experience with us! I so appreciate your kind efforts on the part of the wasp and am thankful for that Being’s survival. I appreciate your raising the issue and pointing out that every little contribution we make (through our conscious actions) helps raise the consciousness re: possibilities of new kinds of interactions between the species involved (wasp-humans), and raise the vibrations of the energies between them, as well as the vibrations of the planet. This all touches me deeply as I do everything I can to rescue insects that are trapped in my home and communicate with the spiders who have joined my home (so that I don’t inadvertently hurt them.) To me all lives in all sizes are very very very important!!!
My response to the question of “Why Save A Wasp’s Life?” was “Why Kill A Wasp?” In my house we always try to do catch and release of any “critter” that has come in or appears lost. We always try to literally “show them the door”. 🙂 🙂
Hi Nedda,
Thank you for such a heartwarming story.
I often get either small lizards, or different flies in my home.
Often they are not near a place where they can get out.
I talk to them and let them know that they are safe with me.
Even though I am a human and much bigger, I love them and I would
like to help them get outside where they will be free and have plenty of
food and water to drink. If it’s a lizard, I just pick it up in my hand and
put it outside… for the flies/wasps/spiders, etc, I have a small
plastic container that I keep handy and a 4/6″ piece of thin cardboard,
from the inside of my cat’s food boxes. I cover the fly,etc. with the plastic
container and slide the thin cardboard underneath to safely hold them.
Then I walk them outside, and take off the cardboard, tilting the container
near the leaf of one of my flower bushes outside my front door. I tell them
that they are now outside and they are now free to leave, and that I wish them
God’s light, love and a happy, healthy life… Then they usually walk onto the
leaf or just fly out. I am always happy to guide them back home….
I have also saved frogs and lizards that were caught in the entry way at work
as well. The security there allow me to put my purse, etc. down so that I may
catch the little one, and place it outside where it will be safe. :0)