Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had the strange feeling that life has been trying to tell me something. It hasn’t been an in-your-face revelation, and the messages haven’t appeared in some dramatic, lightning-bolt sort of way. They’ve felt more like little taps.

The same ideas keep coming back: a conversation I can’t stop thinking about, an opportunity that has appeared more than once, and a project that refuses to leave the back of my mind.

Every time I think, Maybe that’s nothing, or tell myself, Focus on what you’re already doing. Don’t get distracted, something seems to show up again. And this made me think about the repetition and persistence of the woodpecker.

What if the interruption is the invitation?

-       El

PS. Stay tuned on that idea brewing behind the scenes over here… I listened to the woodpecker and am just scratching the surface on something that feels big! And of course, y’all will be the first to know!

If you’ve ever watched a woodpecker or even just listened to the rhythmic pattern of its tapping, you know it’s impossible to ignore. A woodpecker doesn’t peck once and fly away. It returns to the same place again and again with remarkable persistence.

To us, the sound can seem repetitive and sometimes even distracting. To the woodpecker, every tap has a purpose.

Woodpeckers don’t simply hammer on trees at random, hoping to get lucky. They inspect the bark, tap and pause, searching for clues that insects may be hiding beneath the surface. Their tapping is part investigation, part excavation and the pauses and “listening” are just as important as the pecking.

I’ve started wondering how many times I’ve dismissed something because it kept showing up in small ways rather than arriving as one big, grand announcement.

Maybe I assumed it was a coincidence. Maybe I wasn’t ready. Maybe I was waiting for a bigger, clearer sign.

But what if the repetition is the sign?

The Woodpecker reminds us that guidance can appear as a pattern – an idea, feeling, conversation, or opportunity that quietly returns. This week, instead of looking for something brand new, notice what has already been knocking.

And perhaps the message is about something bigger than you.

Many woodpeckers excavate their own nesting cavities. Once those cavities are abandoned, they can become homes for bluebirds, chickadees, owls, flying squirrels, bats, and other animals that aren’t able to carve out nesting spaces for themselves.

Because the cavities they create provide important shelter for so many other creatures, woodpeckers are often considered a keystone species and ecosystem engineers. Their work continues to matter long after they’ve moved on.

Maybe the work you feel called to do isn’t only for you. What if it could create possibilities for those around you and perhaps even for people you’ll never meet.

Maybe the things that keep returning to our lives aren’t interruptions. Today, pay attention to whatever keeps tapping at your awareness. Before brushing it aside, pause and ask yourself, Why does this keep coming back?

You don’t have to have the answer. You just have to be willing to listen.

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