As it stands I am not the most nature loving person. Sure I think it’s absolutely magnificent that we have these tall green monsters that make up an entire forest. The rushing water that refreshes the mind and soul as every wave hits another rock as it races down a creek through that forest. OK maybe I don’t get out much but I did have an interesting episode with a family of birds this summer. And by interesting I mean I traumatized them.
Isn’t that often how it goes. We find something beautiful and we destroy it. Or we modify it to appease our mood at that time. Take for instance, these birds – I wanted to know they were alive and to be entertained by them. They were just sleeping there minding their own business and not thinking twice about me. How rude. So I got up there with my big stick (big stick of pay-attention-to-me) and ever so gently poked the nest. Now my idea of gentle may be different than a bird’s – it’s about perspective after all – as a squawk loud enough to wake the worms erupted from the momma bird. Who by the way was more concerned about me then her babies and in her haste knocked two out of the nest!
See what I did there, it was the momma that did all the damage. If she had just calmly reacted to my invasion then the babies would have been fine. Rather, they hobbled around the ground before scattering into the bushes. As the summer days passed I would hear them squeak in search of home. Right, it was all the mother. Ok, I know I hear you. It was all me. But isn’t that so typical as a human to find something that in it’s relative home is just fine yet I have to get my fingers all up in it. Twiddle around for a bit and when it doesn’t go the way I had planned or ends up differently that how it was, I bring my fingers out and point them.
Looking at yourself as you are isn’t easy. Not always as a straightforward as a bird falling out of the nest. The cause and effect of our actions do not leave breadcrumbs for us to follow knowing where we’ve gone wrong. Actually, the whole bread gets baked and then a few bites in we realize it’s pretty dry and crumbly. The mess is everywhere and we just know it didn’t turn out. So we go over our ingredients – ah yes I forgot the salt.
Well between the birds and the bread this has all gone off track. Being able to see where you’ve gone wrong and admit to that is an audacious act if you’ve never done it before and a part of life if you are on the quest for self improvement. Regardless, it’s hard work like laying eggs and keeping them safe from idiots.
