A fun fact you probably don’t know about me is that I have pet snails.
Yes, that’s right.
The normal garden variety – not fancy African Land Snails.
Just over a year ago I was sitting in a pub and when I went to take a drink from my water bottle there was a little baby snail on it.
It was so tiny!
I allowed it to slime onto my hand and my tights and marvelled at how cute and seemingly defenseless it was.
When I left to go home I tried to put him on the grass but he retreated back inside my (now empty) water bottle and honestly I’d never seen a snail so small, I couldn’t imagine how he’d ever survive to adulthood!
His shell was translucent. I just wanted to protect him.
This was how I met Snigel.
I called him Snigel because his first home was an old Swedish Glace ice cream tub (great Vegan ice cream btw!) and the Swedish word for Snail is Snigel – clever eh?
He later upgraded to a celebrations tub and now has a fancy terrarium.
(Side note: I say “he” but snails are all hermaphrodites and can take on either the mother or father role in the mating process.)
I firmly believe that Snigel came into my life as a spirit animal at a time when the Universe was screaming at me to slow the F down!
I was always busy, always on the go, doing music and comedy gigs, building my business, socialising.
I just didn’t know how to slow down.
Part of this was because I was going through a difficult break up and was distracting myself.
Unconsciously I was just “doing” so I didn’t have to “be” and sit with my feelings.
But Snigel changed that.
I loved watching him and seeing how he moved.
I learnt that snails actually have personalities and that Snigel is an adventurer and maverick at heart.
He was always escaping from his tub and ending up in weird places around the kitchen, such as high up on the wall tucked inside the rim of the boiler.
He taught me to (literally) think outside the box and not allow myself to be limited.
Snails are mostly deaf and blind so their senses of taste and smell are heightened.
Snigel reminded me to feel things out intuitively.
He taught me that sometimes you need to retreat and go back inside your shell.
He taught me to appreciate the simple pleasures in life, which in his case are broccoli stalks and calcium powder.
He taught me to be inquisitive and I relished researching more about a creature I’d previously never given much thought.
I fell in love with nature again and how weird and ingenious she can be – did you know that snails poo via their lung cavity?
I soon found that other snails naturally gravitated towards me in need of assistance.
One that had a flaky, dry shell slimed across my living room window and front door so I gave it some calcium powder to help rebuild it.
Another was on my back doorstep and I gave it a leaf from my chilli plant.
In the morning the snail had gone and had eaten a tiny little hole in the leaf!
I began to notice snails everywhere and now I always help them by picking them up and putting them into the side of the pavement or hedge so they won’t get stepped on.
I learnt the value of being of service, no matter how big or small the gesture.
Snails are naturally social creatures so Snigel was going to get lonely on his own.
He now has two friends, Dandy and Twiggy, who also seemed to find me, rather than me finding them.
You might not think it’s possible to bond with a mollusc but I truly believe that love comes in all shapes and sizes and can be found in the most unexpected of places.
That’s the most important lesson of all.
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