Okay, now for my turn.
First off, thanks for electing me. I really appreciate it. It's been a while since I've been into more mainstream therian-related sites.
Waaaaaay back when I started becoming aware of therianthropy, in my early 20's (I'm 28 now, and will be 29 this March), I felt I was a
Utahraptor dinosaur. I had shifts as that, and everything, and honest to God, that's what I felt I was. However, at times, there were people at a few well-known (at the time) therian sites, the names of which escape me. But... they were very rude and flamed me, saying that they didn't believe it was possible for one to be an extinct creature. So, they labeled me as a poser. They flamed and yelled and got onto me, no matter how I tried to argue it or how nice I tried to be (though admittedly, that didn't last long). So, for years, I've kind of been in my own world - I made friends through various sites and such, but I got out of the mainstream online therian communities and such.
It's just recently that I've decided to get involved again. As to the
Utahraptor thing, about a year or so ago, I came to the realization that I'm actually a red-tailed hawk.
Utahraptor, hawk and eagle are past lives of mine (that I know of), and for whatever reason, I felt the dinosaur life strongly back then.
So... I moved here to be with AsaziEagle, who is currently my fiancee (we're getting married in March), and ever since then, things have changed so greatly, and so positively, it's amazing. First off, when I moved here, we both applied to start volunteer work at this raptor rehab center here in Bozeman. After a few months of being there every Saturday, I started realizing that I didn't feel
Utahraptor - I wasn't shifting, I didn't know
what I felt like anymore. All I knew was that I was a therian. How I knew at that time, I don't know. It was a feeling I had.
So... that period of not-knowing lasted a couple of months. Coincidentally, at this time, I was friends with this lady who had psychic abilities and could talk to animals and such (sadly, since then, she lost her sanity and left, after accusing me of being evil). Despite negative interractions with her near the end of our friendship, the one thing that she contributed was suggesting to me that I try to communicate with the birds at the raptor center.
So, one day, I set out to do just that. I started by talking to one of our trained hawks, a female red-tail named Sammy. During that time period, she hadn't been eating. She wasn't starved or anything, but she had stopped to the point that we were worried about her. Well... that lady had told me that she didn't understand human scheduling and such, and so I decided to explain that to her mentally. So I did. And that day, she ate every bit. Then, the next week, she wasn't eating
again, but this time, I noticed that she was wanting to eat her mice instead of her meat - it's a rule there that the hawks have to eat their meat before getting mice. So I told her that, and explained that she'd get her mice as soon as she ate all of her meat, and that it was a stupid rule the humans had. And, once again, she ate after that, and she hasn't had a problem since - sure, some days she doesn't want to eat and that's fine - sometimes she sorta puts herself on a diet. But since then, there haven't been any problems with her not eating.
So... in doing that, I was totally shocked that I had talked to this hawk, and she had understood me. So, I started doing it with the other birds that they had there, the wild ones in rehab. If they were freaking out, I'd explain that they were okay, that I was just cleaning, or that I was just going to give them their food and leave - just about every single time I've done this, the birds have calmed down.
Well... I've gotten better since then at talking to the birds - and I can talk to the wild ones sometimes, too. I consider them friends, and sometimes they'll fly over me. One time I asked this one to fly over my head and hawk-scream, and he did. Yeah, I know it sounds far-fetched and unbelievable, but it's all true.
Anyway... around the time I started communicating with Sammy, I started realizing I felt hawkish - and came to realize I felt I was a red-tail. Of course, at first, I was a bit shaky at accepting this - not because I didn't want to be a hawk, but I didn't want to think I was just randomly deciding I was something that I wasn't. But... ever since then, I have felt hawk, and have come to accept that that's what I am. It's a past-life thing for me, but why hawk over my other past lives, I don't know. But I'm hawk.
Okay... once again... as usual, I am caught rambling again. You'd never know that in real life, I'm a quiet, nontalkative, secretive person.
In writing, though, it all just flows, and falls out of me. And so people are stuck reading these long, obnoxious posts of mine. Sorry if I'm being annoying - I don't mean to be.
Anyway... I'm back posting at therian sites again and meeting others online. It's not a bad experience anymore, and I'm liking it.
Offline, I appear to be a normal person. I'm quite average in appearance, and quiet, so people don't expect too much from me. Except for when they learn that say, I'm a good worker or something. Then, they expect too much.
Likewise, you guys can talk to me, too. I'm a very good listener.
So... I think I'm going to end my little rambling now - honest-to-God, I did not mean for this post to end up this long!
First off, thanks for electing me. I really appreciate it. It's been a while since I've been into more mainstream therian-related sites.
In writing, though, it all just flows, and falls out of me. And so people are stuck reading these long, obnoxious posts of mine. Sorry if I'm being annoying - I don't mean to be.