Luna

In the interest of graduating and cleaning out things I no longer need. I decided to tackle my out of control gmail inbox.  In doing this I found an email that I'd sent to a friend of mine and decided to reread it. You probably don't know that I suffer from cetaphobia....which is a fear/phobia of whales. Irrational I know (as I will likely never encounter one on the train, in the club or in a session) but that's what a phobia is right...an irrational fear!


Anyway, I was having a discussion with a friend of mine last year about my fear of whales. He was trying to help me get over it but I wasn't sure that was such a good idea. We started trading these emails back and forth about the dangers of whales and thus and so on. Below is an email that I sent him: 


Hey M,
I couldn't sleep last night so naturally I start googling and youtubing things that terrify me. I think I had seen a commercial for SeaWorld or Disney or Florida or something and it had two big nasty looking orcas so I figured let's get this party started. I watched some beached whales, the whale penis one and the exploding whale but started to wonder if there was actual footage of whales and other animals. So it begins...it all started with this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNUlpDLuYUI&feature=xt

Naturally I was intrigued, slightly disgusted and amazed by what appeared to be such a blatant show of inter-species love so I kept searching and found this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNJ868xbt28

which absolutely horrified me! Why oh why must he make that horrible noise?  I freaking HATE a whale! So at this point I'm like WTH? Weirdness....then on the same page comes this clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW5cpSl4RAw&feature=related

Seriously what the hell is up with this non Shamu (apparently trained) whale? How is this possible? All of my paranoia about being in a lake minding my own business and encountering a killer whale starts to sink in. Granted all killer whales look the same but I noticed that these videos kept saying Luna or L98. So I kept looking and found this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ruu-UN4_Yc&feature=related

Holy smokes it's a real life free willy story! So I am searching away and find these
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2BOUHCATMI&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgsbI_f4qeg&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-HEkMWkDVU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYe4ZYHbSZk&feature=related

At this point I am wracked with fear and concern for my safety. Swimming amongst whales let alone their poop (which is a whole new fear for me now) is my worst nightmare. This ain't the ocean this is a freaking sound! But then again he just seems harmless like a 3,000 pound, smelly, slippery, squeaking dog. Right? So I start to feel hella guilty about my hatred because he really wasn't trying to hurt anyone. He was like a kid who was taken into a foster home....just looking for love. As a social worker I can empathize with Big Homie Luna aka L98.  Then I come across this one and was completely done for.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSBWyzMOMoM&feature=related

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/262611_luna11.html

Why Lord why?!  I am pouring some out for L98 tonight hopefully you will do the same.


Peace


So as you can see in addition to me being incredibly witty in this email I realized that my fear of whales came largely from the fact that I don't understand them. They live in the ocean, are huge and have testicles that weight 2 tons (yuck) and don't speak English. Like most people (I think) I get freaked out by things that I don't understand, but seeing this whale's story/plight/struggle helped me to realize that I should treat them with the same compassion that I do my fellow man (I know I know it's an animal but still). Whether in a therapy session, on the street or in the club...it's super important to try to get to know something/one/body before you form judgements about who they are or what they do....


Yes I am a social worker...what can I say! ;) 


This is for my homie Luna or L98....RIP