The Story of Sean and "Lefty" the Horse

By Sean Vanlandingham

This touched me. I went in thinking of vitality, how to live life fully, and my fears of going down the wrong path of today's crossroads. As I was preparing to enter with Joe, Lefty playfully tapped me when I was still outside of the pen as if to say, "hurry up - I'm ready"

I went in, cracked my knuckles nervously (good solid, satisfying cracks) and stood in the center of the pen. Lefty immediately approached me, not aggressively, but with strength and resolve. He embraced me by wrapping his massive head and neck around me and drawing me close. His even flow of strength and love brought me to tears - I wrapped my arms around him and cried. He told me that to really live life, it needs to hurt. The pain is what reminds us we are alive, who we are, who we want to become and who we love. He reminded me that I am everything God ever wanted me to be. I'm enough and I'm special. He reminded me that since the pain began I have really learned how to come into myself and start living life. In Dr. Phil-speak (forgive me) I am now the "star of my own life". I am embracing life, doing new and different things with zeal, and relishing the details of living itself.

He reminded me to zoom out and trust the depth and wholeness of the love in my family and not to let that be overcome by the shadows of the past. Real love, intimacy and connection, a beautiful new life - these are the things life is about. This is where you can find God. God never intended for us to live only in the light. By passing through the dark, the light becomes lighter. The sincerity, warmth and passion of the light that can exist in spite of the dark is profound indeed and the very substance of the divine.

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Lefty is the embodiment of the complete man. Massive and powerful in stature, he has the ability to move mountains. Yet, his namesake calls on the feminine side of humanity and he expressed this freely through his abundant affection for me. He wants to love, hold, nuzzle and kiss, and does so out of his confidence and power as a male. He showed me that masculinity and power is not defined externally, but from within. It flows out to others when you fully come into every aspect of yourself and own the power within. This kind of genuine power is self evident and does not require demonstration to be proven.

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