The Elephant at the Buenos Aires Zoo

Sometimes in yoga class my thoughts wander - I might suddenly remember a friend of mine, have ideas for my business, or reflect a bit more than usual.

Today, it occurred to me during my workout that the reason stories are such a powerful way of sharing a message is because stories often involve connecting with others on a deep level.

Through connection with someone’s experience, we can learn anything. We love hearing other people’s stories because it feels like we are a part of them and they are a part of us. When we connect through stories, what we learn binds to our hearts moreso than our minds.

For this reason, I’d like to share a story with you about my own life.

Hopefully, you’ll remember it and it will help you for years to come.

Age 20, in San Telmo, Buenos Aires (2013).

When I was 20, I lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina for a year.

I was studying Spanish and Italian and decided to go on exchange as a way of practicing my studies in real life.

This was a chance to challenge everything I knew, move to the opposite side of the world, meet people from everywhere and live while I was young. I loved it. I could make a whole blog post on that experience alone, but there was one day that really changed my life.

The day I went with a few friends to check out the Buenos Aires Zoo.

The Buenos Aires Zoo on film (2013).

On that day, I saw the elephant at the zoo. I remember walking around the gardens in the image above, looking at the fountains.

Peacocks were walking around and I was clutching some dulce de leche ice cream while the sun was shining. It was a beautiful day.

Suddenly, I looked up to see an elephant by itself (see image below).

The Elephant at the Buenos Aires Zoo (2013).

My first impression was that elephant looked lonely and it surprised me that there was no fence around the area he was in.

I thought it was strange that in the middle of this busy city in South America, there was nothing really keeping him trapped - just a few strides in any direction and he could be in downtown traffic!

My friend and I got close to one of the zoo employees to ask them about this.

“Why doesn’t he just leave?” I remember asking in Spanish. “¿Porqué no se va?”

The zookeeper explained that when the elephants are babies and arrive at the zoo, their small legs are chained to a steel pole.

This pole is heavy and much stronger than the baby elephants are, and so they are unable to break free from it.

For some time, the baby elephant continues to try to break free from the chain and the pole, but it is still too small to break the chain so it’s no use.

Eventually, the animal learns it is useless to fight the pole and surrenders to living at the zoo.

It becomes used to the amount of space it has and ignores its natural instincts for a freer life. It settles for the chain on its leg.

Downtown Buenos Aires - La Casa Rosada y El Obelisco (2013).

The zookeeper told us that they actually remove the chain completely as the elephant grows up into an adult, because the elephant gives up all hope of leaving.

Years later, this grown elephant, which is much more powerful than it was as a baby and is much stronger than any pole, still believes it is powerless and stays in its cage when nothing is keeping it there.

The elephant doesn’t realize the cage is now in its mind and not in its environment.

It is trapping itself as an adult, based on beliefs it learned as a baby.

No elephants on these streets.

Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires (2013).

At first, I must admit that after hearing this story I liked zoos even less. Tricking elephants out of their freedom is a pretty low blow.

Reflecting on this further, I actually saw parts of myself and some things I had gone through in the elephant’s story.

After all, I was in Buenos Aires finally breaking free from my own comfort zone and the life I knew in Canada.

I had removed my own chains to try something new and expand my horizons.

As I looked at the elephant with my newfound freedom, it hit me. I understood the risk that can come from staying somewhere we don’t belong for a little too long.

It may not be a physical place, but many of us stay chained to comfortable places and ideas of our lives.

We cling to what someone said we can and can’t do or to our own old ideas about ourselves.

I frequently see this when it comes to creating content online.

To cross your external limits, you need to defeat them internally first. I took this photo on my first solo travel trip ever, with an Austrian girl I just met (pictured).

Crossing the Perito Moreno Glacier Ice Rivers in Patagonia (2013).

When it comes to creating content, or putting yourself out there on the internet, many of us behave like the baby elephant.

Maybe you were chained into thinking you weren’t interesting enough to have a Youtube channel or that it’s too late for you.

Maybe you were chained into believing you’re not that smart and people wouldn’t be interested in hearing your thoughts in a podcast or in a book.

Maybe you chained yourself into not seeing how attractive you look in pictures, or into ignoring your natural talents.

Maybe you chained yourself into thinking you’re not competent enough to venture into freelancing or business for yourself.

Best of all? Maybe it’s time to break those chains.

Breaking free from past limits is as simple as deciding to and finding the right people to do it with.
This is my friend Jana, a fellow student at my exchange University from Prague. We drove across Argentina, from Buenos Aires to Patagonia, with a group of friends to hike the Andes in Nahuel Huapi National Park. Couldn’t have done it alone!

Hiking in Patagonia with Friends (2013).

In any case, I would like to gently remind you that if you can read these words, you’re no longer a baby.

There are so many people who would love to hear and connect to your story. It matters that you share it.

There is actually a very good chance that you sharing your natural talents and following your true instincts can lead to an incredible life if only you remembered what your freedom felt like at its core.

Who you really are. Who you were…before you were told who to be.

If only you remembered who you were before you started chaining yourself.

Although our comfort zone can feel comfortable, you won’t grow there.

Like the Buenos Aires elephant, you’ll be deprived of the best your life has to offer if you stay within the limits you know.

You’ll never know true freedom.

Don’t let an old chain break your spirit - choose to live freely now that it’s possible.

If you need help, know that you don’t need to go at it alone. I am here for you every step of the way!

Feel free to get in touch with me or book a call and let’s get you unchained + living your most authentic life together.

What’s one chain you can break free from this week?

xo

Cat