Stephanie Stephan: Welcome to a new episode of Purrs, Barks and Tweets with Love. My name is Stephanie Stefan I am here to delight the hearts of ⁓ the animal lovers out there. This is a podcast exclusively dedicated to the love that we share for all these wonderful creatures on earth and also the love that they share with us, the human species. This episode is dedicated to hummingbirds. Hummingbirds are absolutely exceptional, beautiful, creatures. But are they really miniature? Maybe only in physical size, but the magnificence of their beauty ⁓ beyond compare. They these iridescent feathers. ⁓ They this accelerated batting of the wings that allows them to go in so many different trajectories that are so different from the other birds. They can hover. Can you see how the birds hover the way that hummingbirds do? And let me just ask you, have you noticed all of the varieties of hummingbirds that there are? is phenomenal ⁓ their anatomy is adapted to the kinds of flowers that they go after. It is just fascinating to me. I am literally mesmerized with their presence. And for that reason, every time that I go and I am walking and I am enjoying my tiny nature, I'm always paying attention to the hummingbirds and I see them every single day. It does not matter if there are flowers around. It does not matter if I'm walking by a garden. It does not matter there is any nectar. in the vicinity, I see hummingbirds every single day, multiple times. So much so, that I always wonder, is this the same one? Is this hummingbird following me? And if this hummingbird is following me, what is the message? Why are they going out of the way to actually make themselves be seen and noticed by me? And one day, I actually did get an answer. Of course, every single day is different. I am not going to say this is the case every single time, but this particular time was a summer day. The sun was shining. was beautiful. Everything vibrant. Everything looked alive. Just so colorful. Everything looked so illuminated by the sun rays that I was just admiring how amazing it was to notice all of the different variances of green around me. That's what I was doing, just admiring all the different tones and shades of green. And I hear the sound of the hummingbird. And for that reason, I am looking around to spot the exact location where the hummingbird's sound was coming from, which... I'm so used to noticing them every day that it just within two or three seconds I know where they are. And time ⁓ I that... But as I keep walking, notice a hummingbird again in a different location. Same hummingbird, different hummingbird. I don't know. I keep walking, ⁓ keep listening, I keep admiring, ⁓ then another tree, ⁓ again, a hummingbird. It about seven ⁓ times different trees and still the sound of the hummingbird and then I find the hummingbird in a different tree. And I was wondering what is happening? at that point there was a thought because everything is intention. I needed to ask the question for the hummingbird to give me the answer. If I don't have a question then the hummingbird doesn't know that I actually want to know. So I asked the question in my mind, what is happening? Why are you showing up so many times? it you or is it multiple hummingbirds? And at that moment I received the answer and it was actually not a hummingbird but it was a friend of mine who had passed away. this hummingbird following me from tree to tree. ⁓ was this particular friend just coming back in physical form through the little tiny body of a hummingbird just to say hello. I just wanted to say hi. And this was because that day I had been thinking about her. She had passed away and I didn't have a chance of saying goodbye. And you know that feeling in your heart when you are thinking about somebody that you liked. We were not. close friends. She was a friend of a friend, I had affection towards her because she was a really nice lady. And I was just thinking, well, it's sad that I didn't get to say goodbye. I was thinking about that particular that day. And that is I was during this walk, noticing that hummingbird hopping from tree to tree until hovering in front of my face for a few seconds and then I realized it was her. Isn't that the most spectacular way of coming back from the other side and just saying, I am not gone, you just cannot see me, but I'm still here and I am thinking of you just like you're thinking of me. that amazing ⁓ you think about it is just one of those moments when you have to stop and think. ⁓ What is my thought about dying? Is it that it's the end? it's just a transition? So for me, sharing this story with you today about how amazing the hummingbirds are, not is because they are beautiful, not only are they incredible creatures, not only do they share with ⁓ us joy and their magnificence. but they also have that intrinsic ability to embody the spirit of somebody that we love that wants to come back for a moment and give us a message. They do this all the time. This is not special to me. This is not something that happens only to me. This is happening all the time, whether we are paying attention to it or not. And so the question I have for all of you today is, are you paying attention when you have an animal encounter such as a hummingbird? ⁓ the thoughts that are in your mind before the encounter happened? Because chances are the animal that is crossing your path in that moment is giving you a response to what you were thinking in that moment. right before the encounter. For that reason, I invite all of us this week or every day. Let's pay attention to the animals that cross our path. Let's pay attention to the thoughts that we had in that moment right before crossing paths with this animal. And what were the feelings that we had? it because we were sad? and perhaps this encounter was way to cheer us up was because we had somebody in our thoughts and then in that one moment the favorite animal of that particular person shows up in our path. Do you really believe that is a coincidence? Or you think that was intentional because that animal was there for that particular reason? Just pay to those little details that... ⁓ We sometimes perhaps dismiss as they are not important perhaps we don't even ⁓ them to understand how profound they are in the way of communicating with us. We don't always have to use human ⁓ to communicate. When we are communicating with the animals, we communicate through the heart ⁓ the heart does not need words. So pay attention to those moments when an animal crosses our path. We'll only open the door to a lot of magic that will happen when we communicate with the animals around us without using any words. But this story about the hummingbirds is really special because up to today, even, I still have encounters with hummingbirds every single day. No fail. They are always there, multiple times, it is so heartwarming for me that the moment that I say hello back, that is the moment when they fly away as if to tell me. Thank you for noticing me. I came to say hello. got my hello back from you. ⁓ I can go. It's almost like we have this silent communication back and forth where just a matter of being present, noticing, and loving Because I know ⁓ they are me back ⁓ exactly the way. It is ⁓ so magical. If this story opens up this new world of possibilities for you and now you are wondering and perhaps you are a little curious about, wonder if that will happen to me too. I invite you to open up your heart to that possibility. Open up your heart to ⁓ being possible to occur in your day. ⁓ and I can guarantee it will. Will it happen on the first day? Most likely it will, but I cannot guarantee that. But I can tell you for a fact it will happen eventually. And for that reason, do not give up. Keep opening your heart and the magic will start just flooding your life. And if you like this story, I invite you to... also check out my book, The Path to Unconditional Love. It was published last November 2025. And I have multiple stories of animal encounters in the book. I also have stories of animal messages. of the stories are positive, uplifting, ⁓ so empowering because animals are wise teachers, and every story has a lesson for us to learn. so that we can become happier and better human beings. next time, be kind to others, but most especially be kind to all of the animals that walk ⁓ swim and fly on this earth. Until next time.