Like so many of us, I'd pushed away, minimized, or forgotten many of the senses and relationships with other-than-humans I'd fostered as a child. I tried really hard to please my family, to fit in at school, then work. But I never succeeded. As an adult that's now working to rekindle the intuitive understandings and deep relationship with the world around us that are our birthright as humans, I recognize that being cast out was a blessing that enabled me to follow my own path.