The idea of spirit animals has always been interesting to me. Yes, I know it's important to be skeptical about all things, like astrology, numerology, the zodiac, or even religion -- to each their own. Perhaps that explains all the cultural misappropriations we are seeing on shirts and plummeted into popularity all over the place. I find it important to research and think about symbols, dream catchers, the unknown, and the semiotics behind it and why we are drawn to images or visual punctum. On that same vein, which animals do you tend to see the most in your life? For the animals that cannot speak for themselves, what animal effects you the most? What animal pictures do you feel drawn to? Does that animal or symbol show up often in your life, when and why? Is there a pattern and is this meaningful? And if so, what does that possible 'meaning' mean?

Overtime I've changed my outlook on whether spirit animals exist after I had a vivid dream as a young child. I've since never had a vivid, colorful dream since- of course I've had dreams, but never remember much or remember color-but this one time was different.

The dream came to me one night, I was just shy of 8 or 9 years old, and I was so terrified from seeing the “It” movie, and worrying the clown was going to find me and hurt me -- we had a cul-de-sac in our neighborhood as a child, and I was convinced I was a part of the movie somehow, and that “It” was going to come and get me and take me to the boogie man, or that he was the boogie man in disguise. For a week I felt too scared to sleep in my room for almost a week. My mom thought I was seriously hilarious that I was so afraid of an unreal creature endangering me -- but those fears seem loud when you're a child learning how to reason and interpret reality.

I fell asleep to old 70s songs on the radio and rambling about goldey locks and the three bears, and fell into a dream...

The sun was setting over the pacific ocean, and there I was, on the back of the eldest orca whale. There were large, black dorsal fins around my visual sphere but I felt so safe seeing those large spikes coming out of the dark blue ocean -- everything and every color were rich blacks, whites, blues and oranges hues of golds and light-a sunset. The spew of water would arise from the orcas every now and then, and then the family of orca whales started to race. I still wasn't afraid somehow, as I held tighter to the back of the dorsal fin of the orca I was on. They started jumping at quickened paces. Suddenly I was almost being submerged into the water.

It seems they were picking up their swimming paces all of the sudden -- there was either a storm or a darkened abyss coming toward. Looking back now, I realize in the dream they were in some sort of danger. I had only caught up in the dream to decipher that something had prompted their activity, and I was already stationary in the dream so I knew it wasn't because of me. Only after years of recalling this dream did I discover that it could've been a boat that threatened the tribe. All of the sudden, the whales were going 6 feet into the air, and suddenly I was holding on for dear life in the air, looking out at the vast ocean below me.

It started going in slow motion from there -- the foamy water, like hands was reaching upward to pull me in, the water was parting as the huge mammal I held tightly to was preparing to submerge, as the air beneath it pushed the water into a large gaping shape in the ocean. Screaming, I woke up in a cold sweat before I found myself submerged into the dreams.

The dream has been the reason I care so deeply about Orca whales -- and why I am against the captivity and pursuit of capturing of them.