A kind reminder to look up
A heartfelt reminder from a friend that sometimes it's good to slow down and 'look up' when we feel ourselves spinning through life's busiest cycles.
The other day a fleet of robins circled me on my morning walk with Rya. I say circled because that’s what they did. They flew low – eye level – and spun me around, their chirps coming from left and right, front and back, around and around.
That I had just watched Jurassic Park and Jurassic World Rebirth meant I had raptors on the mind, too, which made me even more jumpy and afraid.
It was early, and if I’m being honest here, I also had life on my mind – a melee of projects and presentations, big bills looming around the corner, too many to-do’s and to-be’s – and if I’m being more honest, this life jungle had me more tense and worked up than any raptors, birds, or birds who were once raptors could.
I turned and turned, took a couple steps forward, retreated. I stared into the eyes of a couple robins and didn’t know if I should see their open mouths as a welcoming smile or a sign of Hitchcock’s vision coming to life.
The moment soon passed and as most moments do faded into the fog of the next day and the ones after that. A few of these days passed before I asked a friend whose heart is big and always open with compassion about it.
I said, “Have you ever been in a situation when you felt scared or threatened by birds?”
She replied, thoughtfully, with a question: “What was going on in your mind just before it happened?”
Sheepishly, I shared it was tasks, to-do’s, work, and chores vibrating in there.
Then, she said, “I can’t help but feel the birds were a kind reminder to ‘look up’ from everything in your head.
And I knew instantly that she was right.
Friends- sometimes there’s just a lot going on. I’m grateful for my friend and this kind reminder to look up.
We love you, and we’ll see you when we see you.