Your Invisible Gifts Matter More Than You Think: A Story About Frederick the Mouse
A Mouse, a Memory, and a Message
From Julia Kyambi’s Soulful Inspirations Newsletter
Last weekend, I bought one of my favourite old childhood books at a flea market. It's called Frederick by Leo Lionni. It's the sweetest story about a little mouse who's part of a mouse community.
The Story of Frederick
The book describes how the whole community works together to prepare for winter. Everyone is stocking up — collecting nuts and gathering straw — so they can keep going through the colder months.
Frederick is a bit different.... Here's me and him reunited :)
He's often just sitting somewhere, in this kind of quiet, spacious aura, not really helping the others, it seems. The other mice keep asking him, as they are working away, Frederick, what are you doing? He replies, giving answers the mice don’t resonate with — for example, I'm collecting colours, because winter will be grey... The mice shake their heads at him and just continue working.
One day, Frederick even looked like he was half asleep. Frederick, are you dreaming now (in the middle of the day when you should be working)? they asked. But he said, No, I'm collecting words. There are so many long winter days… so long that we won’t know what to speak about. The mice just kept working — once again trudging past him with their loads, a little resentfully.
The Turning Point
Then winter came. At first, the mice were happy — enjoying the food they’d gathered, the fruits of their hard summer labour. But eventually, the food began to run out. There was hardly anything left, and it was freezing cold. They didn’t know what to do.
A Different Kind of Harvest
Then suddenly, they remembered Frederick’s strange replies from the summer: Frederick, what about your harvest? And that's when Frederick stepped forward...
He tells the mice to close their eyes and brings to life the sunrays he had collected. The mice revel in the warmth — you can truly feel it through the pages :). Is this magic, they ask themselves?
Then he fills the space with summer colours, and their faces light up with joy when they take them in.
After that, he shares poetry he created from the words he’d collected.
The mice were delighted and so happy — and that’s how everyone made it through the winter. In the end, they acknowledged him as a poet, and he blushed — finally being honoured and seen.
Why This Story Still Speaks to Me
I used to love this story as a child — and I’ve loved its message even more as an adult. I’ve bought the book in thrift stores several times, just to have it around — to peek into every now and then and remember the deeper meanings it holds for me, around invisible gifts, belonging and being seen. But somehow, I always end up feeling called to give it away as a gift. So I suppose this copy, too, will just be a part of my ever-shifting, impermanent library.
I felt inspired to share this with you today — and perhaps its deeper message will resonate, encourage, or inspire you in some way too...
The Quiet Power of Being Yourself
✨ The message to all of us is:
Be you. Embrace your essence and your energy.
Do your thing, your way.
Your energy ripples out and supports others in invisible ways.
Let it come from the heart, every step of the way.
Your quiet presence, your way of sensing, your unseen tending — it all matters. Live it.
That way, you might feel — sooner or later — that it also ripples back to you, in many ways.
If you’re struggling with not being met in resonance, try playing with it as an experiment — here and there. See if perhaps completely unexpected corners of your world suddenly show up in gratitude or recognition.
For the Fredericks Among Us
✨ So I ask you: where in your life have you been feeling like Frederick? Is there a part of you quietly tending something that no one sees, that you are perhaps not yet fully aware of?
Remember — so often, old experiences of not belonging weave into the story about our being different today, and this can sometimes make things feel more challenging than they need to be. Of course, some differences come with very real risks in the world and systemic adversity — and I don’t mean to overlook that. But take heart: today is different to what you may have experienced in the past. You have different tools and support now — ones you may not have had then.
The Invisible Thread of Your Presence
You are a contribution that is so needed — even if almost no one recognizes it just yet.
I invite you to join me in continuing to weave this inspiration.
Go into quiet self-inquiry every now and again.
What do you naturally collect and emanate, like Frederick — that even you yourself haven’t yet fully recognised the value of?
⟡ Is it the way your body attunes to what’s unspoken, offering presence when words fall short?
⟡ Is it the way you sense what's emerging — in others, in spaces, in the field — long before it’s named?
⟡ Is it in your quiet rituals, your unseen tending, or the gentle steadiness you bring when everything feels uncertain?
⟡ Is it your need to go slow — and your willingness to honour that, even when the world pushes for more, faster, louder?
⟡ Is it the way you keep returning to yourself, even after doubt or detours — learning from it, softening, and walking again in the direction of what feels true?
These gifts might not be obvious to those around you — but they are deeply felt.
A Soulful Invitation to Remember
Your presence matters. Let it be deep. May you honour what you quietly carry...
One thing that helps me with this — and that I like to ask myself — is: How do I feel when I am deeply present? And how do I want others to feel when I’m deeply present — both to myself and to them? That usually gives me an idea of the kind of energy my being naturally holds.
Start Where You Are
Whatever it is that’s part of your unique essence and spirit… That thing you do so naturally — may you honour it, wherever you are on your journey.
A Gentle Next Step
With that, I’ll leave you. If this story stirs something in you — a part that’s been quietly collecting, sensing, or dreaming — or a part that longs to reconnect with the deeper magic within — start by collecting your metaphorical sunrays, colours and words in whatever form, and know you are not alone.
And if you’d like to explore how I can support you on your inner journey — you’re warmly invited to explore my monthly one-on-one coaching pathway — a space that holds the same kind of care, presence, and deep listening this story points to.
I'll be in touch again soon.
With love,
Julia
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Mindfulness-based Embodiment Coach and Intuitive Transformational Guide
Your energy and presence are gifts to share with the world — even if they are deeply quiet. They are the very fuel that helps you transform your life and truly flourish.
You can tap into this when you ground in the essence of being you.
That’s what this blog is here to hold: reflections from my own long journey home to myself, interwoven with the insights I’ve gained through years of lived experience and training.
Warmly, Julia
What Informs This Work
This email was inspired by the children’s book “Frederick” by Leo Lionni, © Alfred A. Knopf