Discernment Is a medicine

We live in a time where "question everything" has become a rallying cry, but it's often shouted from a place of fear, not grounded awareness. I want to speak plainly today about discernment, the real kind, not the version that leads us down rabbit holes or into the arms of fear mongering narratives disguised as truth.

Discernment isn’t about doubting everything. It's about listening for what is true underneath the noise.

I speak from experience. In the past I’ve followed the trails. I’ve fallen down those holes. I've been swept up in the intoxicating righteousness of “hidden knowledge.” And I’ve come out the other side, not more enlightened, but more anxious, disconnected, and out of alignment with the medicine I came here to carry.

There was a moment that jolted me awake. I heard something so absurd, so far from any grounded truth, that I literally shouted at myself:

"Wake up, you fool!"

It wasn’t shame. It was a snap of remembrance, a return to myself, to my knowing. I had been caught in fear traps disguised as “awakening.” These traps speak in loud certainty, but they have no root in wisdom. And that’s the key: discernment doesn’t shout. It listens. It feels. It waits.

Animal Wisdom: Discernment in the Wild

Nature teaches us real discernment. The animals know.

• The Deer teaches us alertness without panic. She reads the environment through her whole body, and when she chooses to flee, it’s not from imagined threat, it’s instinctual and embodied. She trusts her senses.

• The Owl doesn’t rush into decisions. It sits in the branches, still and silent, watching. It waits for the right moment, not the loudest moment. Owl reminds us that sight in the darkness is possible when we are quiet inside.

• The Hare knows the land through its feet and fur. She doesn’t ask for proof, she listens to subtle shifts in vibration. Her medicine is attunement, not theory.

• The Wolf moves with the pack but doesn’t lose its individuality. Wolf medicine reminds us to stay connected, but not to follow blindly.

This is the kind of discernment I trust. One that lives in the body. One that watches quietly. One that doesn’t chase every story, but senses the rhythm beneath it.

Discernment Is Power

Fear weakens us. It clouds our vision, disconnects us from community, and makes us reactive. Discernment reclaims that power. To discern is to say, “No, I will not be pulled off course.”

To discern is to choose what you feed your attention to. To discern is to know when something is not yours, and walk away.

We are being called into something deeper than reaction. This is a time to stand in our centre, to root down and listen beyond the noise. Not every "truth" out there deserves your energy.

Not every question needs an answer. Your nervous system, your intuition, your connection with the natural world, these are your teachers. Let them be louder than the next headline, the next shocking story, or the next “truth” that feeds your fear but not your soul.

Standing in Your Medicine

This path isn’t about being passive or naïve. It’s about becoming unshakeable in your own knowing. It’s about remembering that you are already wise, already connected to something deeper than algorithms and arguments. Your power is in your presence. Your clarity is in your calm. Your knowing is in your nervous system, not your news feed. We are not meant to live in chronic defence. We are meant to respond with reverence. Let the animals guide you. Let your body lead. Let the medicine you carry remind you: You don’t need to fear the world to love it wisely.