I watched this wonderful video yesterday. A man in Pennsylvania set up a camera by this log bridge on a creek to see what wildlife crossed it. In short, the bridge saw a lot of foot traffic. Even a bird chose to walk across the bridge than fly over it.

The video was so serene with the water of the creek flowing in the background and the silent passersby, with the exception of a few birds. Raccoons, mountain lions, porcupines, wolves, and several more – the owner of the video lists the different animals that come by during the video in the ending credits as the cast. One guy, in my opinion, was the star.

One Bear, in particular, grabbed me by the psyche.

Bear is crossing the log bridge coming towards the camera. His paw slips and he stumbles. And he keeps walking. He doesn’t look back to see what happened. He doesn’t look down to see if he’s ok to put his paw down again. He doesn’t get weary about walking. He doesn’t look embarrassed – although, I must admit, it would be difficult to tell if he’s blushing.

I’m nothing like Bear. I wish I were. I actually long to be more like him.

If I trip, and I trip a lot both literally and figuratively, I immediately look down to see what I tripped over. My reaction then depends on what the tripping hazard is. If it’s living, I try to make sure it is ok. And that it is out of harm’s way. And I apologize profusely. Like really a lot.

If it’s not a living creature, I usually look around to see if anyone saw me trip. If they did, I usually point at said tripping hazard and describe it so the person doesn’t think I’m crazy (as though yelling out, “Rock” isn’t crazy enough).

If I trip over nothing, also a common occurrence, or the toe of my own shoe, I look down and then give the accepted “I don’t know” gesture and then move the tripper out of the way. People, if they’ve noticed at all, generally nod and carry on. Most of the time they haven’t noticed. My anxiety is coming solely from myself.

Not Bear. Bear slips and keeps walking. No looking down. No looking back. No explanation to anyone. Bear is confident. Rightly so. Even if someone were to judge him or look down on him for slipping, it doesn’t matter; Bear is still powerful regardless of what others may think.

I don’t think I could be entirely Bear but I think it would greatly decrease my levels of anxiety if I made some changes in that direction. I think that could be a good thing.

In all fairness, though, the Great Blue Heron was pretty cool too.

Video – The Log 2: Another Year