Hedgehogs

I love hedgehogs.

Last week, my amazing friend Andi Cumbo made me this super-cute hedgehog. You can get one too, handmade just for you, from her Etsy shop, and support her dream for “God’s Whisper,” a retreat for artists in the Virginia mountains.

This started me thinking about *why* I love hedgehogs so much, and what we can learn from them…

A hedgehog is a solitary creature. I can relate. She is perfectly happy to cuddle up all alone in a warm little fleece bag. She won’t come out voluntarily unless you’re holding a mealworm in front of her nose. But once she’s out, she discovers a few fun things. I need friends to dump me out of the comfort of my blankie and PJs every now and then, too.

A hedgehog hustles when no one else is looking. In the wild, a hedgehog is an ultra-marathoner–some say she can run to up six miles a night. She doesn’t pack a lunchbag, or eat a big meal before she goes; instead, she finds the resources she needs along the way. I’m learning to hustle, to start running toward my dreams instead of sitting around and waiting to be “ready.”

A hedgehog knows when to face her fears. When a hedgehog is threatened, she curls up into a tight, prickly, impenetrable ball. But put her in shallow bathwater? She unrolls right away. Still scared, sure. But she knows she needs to unroll to survive, and she learns to trust that I won’t let her drown. I need friends who will challenge me to step into things that are scary but necessary. And who will wrap a warm fluffy towel around me after it’s all over and I survived.

A hedgehog knows how to play. Most hedgehogs love toilet paper tubes. (Really. Google it.) The lesson? Keep it simple. I don’t need all kinds of expensive, fancy toys to find joy.

Do you have a favorite quirky animal? Leave a comment…