I love wings. Faerie wings, Ladybug wings, angel wings, bat wings and delicately feathered bird wings to name just a few. I have a whole wall in my home devoted to an art collection of different wings. I also have a tickle trunk full of costume wings the likes of pink faeries, green dragonfly and black raven wings – you know for those occasions that call for wings. I have also always wanted to fly…you know when you get asked what superpower you would like to have – mine is always flight – soaring through the air, around trees, in and out of clouds, way above the ground. And as much as squirrels, llamas and every other furbaby I come in contact with love me, birds really really love me and more than a dozen times over my life, they’ve landed on me and stayed awhile so we can make birdy like sounds and become friends. I’m pretty sure I was a bird or flying bug in one of my previous lives.

I also have my own set of wings, dragonfly wings tattooed across my back. They are my spirit animal. It was during a particularly bumpy time after my Mum passed away and I lost my faith in magic and felt frozen, unable to fly. I remember standing in my river under a full moon in that spotlight a full moon debuts and I was yelling and cursing at the universe for letting me down, damning it for making my Mum suffer and daring it to give me a sign that there was still is good and light left in the world. I went to bed that night in my cabin to be woken up the next morning by something tickling my hand. I opened my eyes to see a huge dragonfly just perched on my hand looking me straight in the eyes. I laid there staring at it wondering how did you get into the cottage. How did you find my room and land on me? It just sat there blinking and kind of smiling at me, tilting its little head, in no rush to fly away. It was my sign. The universe sent her to let me know there was still good and light left in the world. As a totem, the dragonfly is the power of light and is symbolic of transformation, being adaptable and finding joy in the lightness of being. The dragonfly lives in two realms: air and water and is the essence of the winds of change delivering messages from the elemental world. That spoke volumes to me, so I had those magnificent wings permanently set on my back to remind me to be light, to always use them to fly high and wide, to explore the skies and watch from above; and when I’m tired or feeling down, they are always there to lift me up.

“She made broken look beautiful
and strong look invincible.
She walked with the Universe
on her shoulders and made it
look like a pair of wings.”  

Ariana Dancu