The Brilliant Bird - Part 1

Once there was a bright-colored, playful, and unusually rare bird that lived in the jungle. She was a beauty but very loud, social, graceful, proud and never wanted to sit still. There were a few like her spread out throughout the forest, high in the trees. She loved to fly high above and spread her colorful wings to the world. She loved the sweet fruits from the trees where she would perch, tasting their nectar before they were too ripe and would fall to the bottom of the forest. She would bathe in the great waterfall and shake off her cold, wet feathers in the light of the Great Source. She would share her nuts and seeds with those around her, gathering her children to share stories. And she would fly far and wide to peer in on the lives of so many other creatures with whom she befriended. She shared stories of her ancestors, perching on the ancient ruins of the two-leggeds who lived in the forests. She would see the flames of those who still lived deep within, whose days were spent gathering fish in streams and whose nights are spent with those in their families. She was always curious, keeping watch and wondering, what would it be like to be among the two-leggeds?

Then one day, she ventured out. She decided to see what was beyond the basin of the safety of the forest. She happened upon a city where there were these two-leggeds were crowded and fast and dressed in funny things, not like those of the forest. She was fascinated. She spent many days searching beyond the canopy. She found noise and crowds and strange, exotic smells. She found these strange creatures with humming sounds that ran along the city floor with the two-legged creatures inside. They made loud noises when they crowded together and the two-leggeds would emerge their heads out and shout at one another. There were the smells of other creatures being burned. There were these strange, tall square places, not at all like trees, where two-leggeds would emerge and disappear within. She would land on all kinds of tall places that had no covering. And she would occasionally grab the attention of a two-legged who would point to her and shout.

On one such occasion, where her curiosity got the best of her, she ventured too close to one of the two-leggeds and she was caught! He put her inside a small box and took her inside his square dwelling place. She was terrified! Cowering, her heart pounding, she waiting for what seemed forever in the small space where she was kept. Eventually the two-legged began to speak to her and she came out of hiding to investigate. What an odd creature! It was her bravery or stupidity that made her lash out at first, pecking as hard as she could to get away. But eventually her manner subsided and she became comfortable with the two-legged. But she wanted out!

Several cycles of the light went by. The two-legged gave her seed and water. But it wasn’t the same as her home. She needed flight. She needed sunshine. Even in this small space, spending time in the light was not the same. She began to wither and her heart became heavy. The two-legged saw her change and allowed her to be let free in his dwelling place. She flew around gratefully, showing off her beautiful colors, singing loudly and began to preen. The two-legged was pleased. She took a liking to him and spent time curiously looking over him to see what he was doing. She watched his many tasks and pondered over their meaning. She was excited—just as she had hoped, she was learning something different, outside her jungle, outside the comfort of her brilliant forest. But she missed and longed for her children. She would perch at the clear opening of the dwelling, which still allowed her to close her eyes and be thankful to the light as it set each day.

There was a routine. She arose, flew around, perched over her two-legged, and watched him work. She pecked at her food, explored her dwelling. But again, it was not enough. In the heat of the afternoon, she would perch as close as she could to the clear boundary between her and the outside world. And she would say thank you to the light as it fell below the sky every night. In her dreams, she would see the brilliant points of light from well beyond the jungle, high above her like jewels, and she would dream of flying as high as she could. She was happy in her dreams. But every morning, she awoke again to the sadness of being in this little dwelling, away from her world of buzzing and screeching and whistling and life.

Finally, the two-legged began to carefully look at her. Her feathers were coming out. Her joy was gone. She could not fly around because she had no reason to fly. She sat in her corner on her perch and just stared out the great clear barrier between her and her world. The two-legged felt compassion. She could feel his heart break as hers was broken as well. He carefully put her in a dark, small space and she was terrified, but she trusted him. He took her into his large, noisy, crawling creature and eventually stopped where it was familiar to her. She knew she was no longer in his dwelling place! And in one act of sheer kindness, she emerged from the dark space and saw that she was near her beloved jungle! She flew high above and circled her two-legged, bowed to him in thanks and screeched with a sound so loud she even scared herself. And she flew right out into the thickness of her forest and searched high and low for her children. Reunited once again, she was finally filled with joy. And that night, as she perched on a branch and looked into the colorful, dimming light, she said thanks to her Source and fell fast asleep.

It took months to grow all her plumage back. It was a long, hard recovery. But the waterfall never felt so good. And the fruit never tasted so sweet. And the seeds never had such life force for her. And this opened her to a new adventure…the curiosity once again gave her the strength to explore. But she decided at that moment, there would be plenty of time to adventure, someday, but today she would be with her family and rest in the canopy of her beloved jungle.

No matter how much she wanted to change, no matter how far she wanted to go, she was still a bird. She would always have two wings. She would always be brightly colored. And she was always going to need her jungle, her canopy, her waterfall, and her children.