“Have you ever felt like you’re alone in the world? Perhaps you have even had the feelings of being an alien, like you don’t really belong here. Maybe you think that no one really gets you, that they just don’t understand.
I used to feel that way.. a long time ago. In fact it seems like it was just some sort of really foggy dream of existence now. Like, I found myself looking over my shoulder the other day and noticed the memory of the way I used to live WAY long behind me. So I get it. And I’m so glad that I have more possibilities of how I connect with people. I look forward to the adventure of connecting with people. I look forward to discovering more about how the other person interacts and navigates in the world around them. And I wonder what I will learn from the way they move and groove through life? I wonder what useful ways they behave that I can adopt for myself and try on?
I read this story the other day and it really resonated with the above theme and the mood and attitude of connecting with people around me that I want to bring into life. So go ahead and enjoy the read!
The Porcupine and the River
In a quiet forest valley, there lived a porcupine named Elan. Elan was clever—always watching, always thinking. He could tell you the difference between moss types just by the way they clung to stone, or distinguish bird calls even when the wind whispered through the trees. Elan prided himself on his ability to sort—to notice what made things different, what set them apart.
But Elan was lonely.
Each day, he wandered beside the river that wound through the forest. He longed to dip his paws into the current and let it carry him into unknown places. But instead of stepping in, he stayed on the bank, analyzing every ripple, every rock, calculating whether the flow was too fast or the water too cold. He feared being swept away, losing control. So, he stayed on dry land, picking apart the river’s complexity, never feeling its depth.
The other animals came to drink and play there—otters tumbling in laughter, deer sipping side by side—but Elan held back. Whenever someone approached, he bristled. Not with anger, but with tension—his quills rising like defenses, delicate and sharp.
He didn’t mean to push others away. He just didn’t want to be hurt.
He started seeing everything through the lens of difference:
“This bird sings too loudly.”
“That squirrel is too reckless.”
“They won’t understand me.”
So he categorized. Sorted. Divided.
He walked among them as though walking on eggshells—careful not to be too much, too little, too anything. But in doing so, he forgot how to just be.
One spring day, as the snowmelt surged, the river rose high and spilled into the forest path. Elan, startled, found himself trapped between the water and a thick bramble. There was no choice now—no time for thinking. A young fox darted forward, offering her paw.
Instinct said to raise his quills, to protect.
But something in the fox’s eyes was soft. Unsorted. Just present.
So Elan breathed. He let down his guard. And as the river lapped at his feet, he stepped in—side by side with the fox—letting connection, not caution, carry him through.
And for the first time, Elan didn’t analyze the current. He felt it.
Do you want to learn how hypnosis can work for you? Are you finally ready to really authentically connect with people?
Click on the FREE screening link to find out how you can create connection today!”
Tawnya Jacques
I’m Tawnya Jacques, your Consulting Hypnotist, and Director of Hamilton Hypnosis.
Before starting Hypnosis for myself, I never knew how to get past old feelings of unforgiveness. I was living with continuous guilt and shame, fear and mistrust.
My coping mechanisms were to put up walls and to constantly try to prove that I was always right. I felt inferior and controlled by my thoughts, continually worried about what others thought of me.