Guy Reams (00:00.814)
This is day 102. The force of nature, regenerative bison. So after we were at a conference this weekend and when we got when we got done with the conference, we went to dinner and we just wanted something quick. So we went by this restaurant called True Food Kitchen. They have quite a few franchises in various cities in the country.
When we got there, I was looking through the menu and I stopped along their pizza menu. in the pizza menu, there was an advertisement for grass-fed bison sausage pizza. And the first part of the ingredients says this, horse of nature regenerative bison. Now, that got me thinking. Perhaps this is my new spare down.
Guy Reams (01:00.96)
Obviously, Force of Nature is a brand name associated with meat products that emphasize ethical, sustainable, regenerative farming practices. Regenerative is the new awesome phrase for organic farming. Organic has kind of come blase. So they like to use regenerative farming now. Of course, this is really focused on
making sure the ecosystem stays intact. The soil is healthy with lot of biodiversity. They manage the land in a natural way, I suppose. Regenerative agriculture has become, I think modern days has become a farming approach that focuses on sustainability, but it goes beyond that. It means that the farmer is actually trying to improve the land.
rather than just, you know, sustain, you know, sustainability started to become just, use manure, I use manure from the animals I'm using. So most people are starting to think that regenerative agriculture would be bringing health back to the land, rotating the grazing of crops, not tilling crops under the earth with a till, that kind of stuff. The idea is that you want to build
or more organic matter into the soil and retain water better and bring life back to the soil. You know, when you pick up a handful of soil, you see a lot of little creatures in it, right? That kind of thing. know, so this is what they're trying to get at with their pizza advertisement, right? That they're using this type of meat grazed on this. In this case, bison that was
raised in a way that was natural to the bison, so natural herd movement, roaming from field to field like they would normally do if they were running wild. So that's kind of the idea, like preventing overgrazing or industrial practices, all that kind of stuff. So the bison obviously plays a key role in regenerative agriculture, or any stock animal would for that matter.
Guy Reams (03:26.871)
You know, they graze the grass, which keeps the growth down. Their manure fertilizes the soil. They aerate the ground with their hooves. They do all that kind of stuff. So this is what the regenerative bison is. So at the same time, the bison, whether it's raised in this manner or raised in an industrial manner, the result is the same for the poor bison.
But perhaps better for humans or at least for humans to feel better about it. So, but that's not the meaning I took out of it. I was really pondering what the heck force of nature mean. And I was thinking to ask myself, well, I would really like to be a force of nature. That sounds exciting, right? Could I be a force of nature? And could I be more regenerative in my ideas? So that got me thinking about spirit album.
So I have a spirit animal, which I'll talk about in a minute, but a spirit animal is a concept that's found in a lot of spiritual traditions throughout the world. In fact, I've read up on this a little bit. A lot of, I guess we'll use the term indigenous. I'm not sure I like that term, but native Americans, I guess is the term people use, but it's not just native Americans. It's other cultures as well have always used
or had association with an animal that represents things in their environment. You can imagine that a culture of people that were living off the land in such a close way would start to recognize patterns with certain animals and would start to assign meaning to that. And that's what they did. So I think that a spirit animal symbolizes a deep personal connection.
to a personal animal that serves kind of as a guide or a protector or potentially, and this is why I use it, the source of inspiration in your life. It's a symbol. So I have on my desk my spirit animal, which I'll reveal here shortly. I have a picture of my spirit animal. I have a couple little figurines of my spirit animal here on my desk. So a spirit animal can mean a lot of things.
Guy Reams (05:53.837)
It often reflects your inner self and body's characteristics you have. or better, which is what I would think, is it inspires you to develop a need in your specific phase of life. Now, I think different times of your life, a different animal might symbolize that time of your life. For example, a wolf might symbolize loyalty and leadership. So maybe at some point in time,
you are required to be in a significant leadership position. So maybe the wolf would be a great symbol for that. Whereas maybe you're in a different role where you're older and people are looking to you for vision, wisdom, maybe intuition about what's coming. So you could be there for a hawk, could be your spirit animal. So the idea is that it's a symbol to help you focus and narrow down
what your strengths and weaknesses to help you understand your mission in life better. Sometimes it's hard to create a mission in life and then remember that all the time. But if you condense that into a particular symbol like an animal, it helps you keep that focused in your brain. That's the idea. I think a spiritual animal focuses on a connection to nature, right? So obviously animals are highly part of the nature around them.
And so should we, we should respect animals and ecosystems and all that. So many people attribute that there, but I think even more so you could look at the spirit animal as being a protection to you, right? It'll help you navigate challenges in life. Now don't think it actually does that. I mean, some people might believe that there's this spiritual essence that's following around protecting you, but I don't really think that what I think it actually is, is
It helps you stay focused on what's really important to you. So when you're uncertain about what to do, you're going through a transition, you need wisdom or clarity or in direction of what you're trying to accomplish. Remembering that spirit animal that you've used to symbolize the phase of life you're in can help you remember that. So I think deeply rooted in the
Guy Reams (08:18.667)
Native American cultures that practice this was an ancient wisdom. And it's not just hocus pocus wisdom. This is actual real wisdom. It is really important to stay focused and guided in your journey. And if you can symbolize that part of your life's mission you're on with some sort of animal or other symbol that can help you stay within the guardrails and not get distracted.
Now I think it's kind of fun. And I've read up on this quite a bit is the process of identifying a spiritual. I think I think they're supposed to come like unexpected. Like when I was reading that menu last night, this idea of the force of nature bison just popped out of nowhere, right? That's like, that's kind of how it's meant to happen. You know, I think, I think the joke is that you could go on a peyote trip and walk through the desert and you'll
accidentally run into your animal. That may or may not be the case, but I think it's. People view this as you're in a dream or if you watch the movies, it happens when they when the person's like in a dream and they they have a conversation with a wolf or something. But I think it's more meditative, like you're really seeking for answers. You're looking for personal transformation. You're thinking what in nature represents what I'm trying to accomplish.
And that really helps you and I've actually met a lot of business leaders that have been really thinking about where they want to go with their business or their life and they will come across some animal or thing of nature that represents that. So they're like this is the symbol so I've been more than one person. I know that's done this. There's gotta be some truth.
In a spiritual context, you'll see in some Native American tribes, not all, you'll see some totem, an animal or spiritual animal that's deeply rooted in their practices or whatever. In modern, you know, sometimes it's viewed as a joke, right? It's either metaphorical or symbolic practice rather than actual religious one. And people will sometimes use it as a joke as you're talking. that's my spirit animal.
Guy Reams (10:40.161)
But I don't think it should be a laughing matter. I think it's actually kind of a, it's really an important consideration to help you stay guided. So people often look for dreams or visions, life experiences, maybe an encounter with an animal. One time I was running a lot and I ran into a coyote.
And me and this coyote had like a moment where we saw each other and we were like looking each other in the eyes. And we both decided to turn around and run the other way. So I kind of viewed the coyote as this guide for me in my running ambitions. And so sometimes when I was in a long distance run and I was feeling like quitting, I would remember that coyote in my mind and that would help me.
overcome the desire to quit. So in this case, the coyote had a personal connection to me. I was naturally drawn to this personal connection because of the coyote that I encountered on one of my runs. I also encountered a skunk, but I didn't really like the skunk so much. The symbolism of the skunk wasn't all that attractive. Coyote was better. So anyway.
That's the spirit that this is the idea behind a spiritual and a spirit animal.
And it can kind of be kind of fun too. And it also gives you something to have around. Like I have my spirit animal on my desk and I look at him from time to time. And it's kind of a motivating factor or somebody will ask me about it. Like what's that thing going on your desk? And I'll tell them all about it and why it's important to me and why it symbolizes me. it gives me something. Now in my life, early on in my life, I had a
Guy Reams (12:37.517)
pretty significant spiritual transformation. So, and it just so happened that when that happened, I encountered a frog or actually a bunch of frogs. And so the frog has always held a symbolic meaning for me, a pretty significant one about transformation or renewal. Now in Native American cultures, the frog has a lot to do with the connection to water.
obviously, because that's where you find bullfrogs is in the water. But I've also heard that it means renewal. Frogs always go through a metamorphosis from tadpoles to an adult, and they go through quite a bit of transformation. So the frog is seen as a person, a personal evolution of somebody's ability to adapt to a new environment, a new circumstance or to overcome something, become something new. The frog has been viewed that way.
Frogs are also because they're so associated with water. They tend to be viewed as a source of life, purification of becoming renewed. So if you ever feel. And at the time of my life, I felt like I needed renewal. So when I when I adopted the frog as my my animal, it was like I needed to. Overcome something in my life so.
It's just an interesting concept, right? So, however, as I've gotten older, I've noticed that the frog has lost its meaning to me. So I've been contemplating, maybe my little frog on my desk is no longer a strong source of inspiration to me. So perhaps maybe I should look at frogs as I should look at another animal. So now I'm considering
a change in my spirit animal. So now I do enjoy the frog kind of cool. I've got a bunch of my backyard. I've got them on my desk. so I could use, I could, you know, I'll probably keep the frog will always be important to me, but now I'm starting to think I kind of like this bison idea, right? So in native, I looked it up. So I spent some time researching it in native American culture.
Guy Reams (15:04.279)
The bison is pretty profound, right? Because if you think about her herds of bison were roaming around North America until we killed them all. But if you think about it, they were a symbol of abundance, strength. There was a sacred connection between nature and God. And a lot of times, the bison represented that. So the first thing it represented, I think, is abundance.
Because imagine if you slayed a bison, it would provide you with so much food. You could get food from it, clothing from it, shelter from it, tools from it. All those things could be made out of a bison. So a bison was like the earth, the land is giving you this great bounty, which is this bison animal that could feed your entire village and provide you with so much warmth and shelter. So I think, you know,
I think Native American cultures had figured out over thousands of years that they needed to keep these herds very active and thriving because they were a source of life for them, right? So this idea of connecting to nature in a regenerative way was something that was very obvious to these people because they needed them to survive. So for many tribes, the bison is probably, I'm just guessing, I don't know, but I would guess it's very sacred, probably connected to
you know, prayers, ritual ceremonies, right? I imagine I looked it up a little bit and that is the case. I mean, there's even legendary figures of people that have had, you know, interactions with a bison or something, but I don't know. But I do believe it is a symbol of strength. It's a symbol of resilience. The bison would have embodied strength, endurance, the ability to survive.
The ability to thrive when things are tough. I think it's viewed as strength and perseverance to overcome adversity. So I like this new symbol because I'm in a part of my life or I really have to dig deep and be stronger. So I think the bison now becomes a great spiritual animal for me. my new thing. Wish me luck. So I think this is going to be fun. Now, obviously,
Guy Reams (17:32.459)
I didn't order the pizza because ordering a pizza and eating my spiritual animal just didn't seem like the right thing to do. So one thing I can say is this bison gives me a belief, you know, because the mice, the bison was actually a messenger, the messenger that would carry from the spiritual world messages to the tribes of the North American plains. So, you know, who knows?
Maybe I'll go on a vision quest and I'll meet ancestors. It'll tell me great things. Who knows, right? Anyway, so I would highly recommend considering what animal represents the time period of your life, right? Think about it. I mean, there could be like you could you could identify with some symbolic thing that represents what you're going through and helps keep you focused and helps you remember.
a powerful symbol of what's happened in your life and how you need to behave, how you need to act, where you need to go. It was just a thought. Anyway, thank you.