Mister Bluebird wasn’t on my shoulder but he was surprisingly close! I had put out various bird houses around the yard, and this fellow decided to set up home right outside my back window. He was quite brave and protective! Unfortunately, he saw his reflection in my window, so he began doing battle with himself. He was wearing himself out! I became concerned that he was exhausting himself so I built a little perch on the window for him where he could comfortably sit to watch himself. He would alternate between sitting on the perch at the window to sitting on the branch in the tree. This went on for days and days, at which time I was able to photograph him with ease. At times, he could clearly see me photographing him but nothing would deter him from his work of protecting his territory…from himself!
This behavior has given me pause for thought. How many times have I seen myself as the enemy? How many times have a spent untold energy fighting against myself? The Bluebird spent countless hours, for days at a time, fighting against something that was no threat. And in the end, he moved on from a perfectly safe home because he couldn’t come to terms with himself. I see my own reflection in the Bluebird. I’ve spent the last decade coming to terms with myself. In so doing, I am finding a great deal of freedom and less and less reason to fly away when I see my own reflection.
