Page 166 - Total War on PTSD

“Nothing is permanent about our behavior patterns except our belief that they are so.” - Moshe Feldenkrais
Courtenay: Sitting at the VA in the coffee shop waiting for one of many appointments I am people watching, one of the 'side effects' of my hyper-vigilance. But this time I am comparing the people around me to animals, as a distraction. The slight lady at the next table reminds me of a tiny Sandpiper, cautiously pecking the keys of her cell phone with one slim finger like the birds beak investigating holes in the sand.
The grouchy guy in line behind me, invading my comfort zone and breathing on the back of my neck, reminds me of an angry Rhinoceros...all anger and bluster...pawing the ground and kicking up dust but getting absolutely nowhere in the process.
Another is the Flamingo, seeming to balance precariously on her two feet as if in preparation to lift one up, bending at the knee in a lanky but graceful pose...leaving me staring at her feet and waiting to see which foot might win out.
The tall, lanky guy ambling by in the hallway, seeming to choose every step along the way, moves and steps rather much as an Elephant would. A weighty beast quite aware of its heft and size but as cautious as a mouse tiptoeing around mousetraps.
Then there is the flighty lady, and she is going from one person to another, somewhat like a hummingbird to beckoning flowers, pausing at each to see what it offered, then leaving for another. Her voice changes depending on her audience, and her arms and hands, as wings, brush against another's hand or back; pausing for a moment of expectation, or maybe hope, waiting for a possible reaction before an inevitable loss of interest and flitting away to yet another individual; as to said hummingbird before the willing flower.
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