Im like a bird...

I remember back in 2000 (or somewhere around then) Nelly Furtado had a song out called "I'm like a bird". I will be the first to tell you that I always thought that song was ridiculous. Not only could I not decipher the lyrics through her constant squawking, I never really understood what the lyrics were actually trying to say. Until this morning. This morning, I felt some weird connection to that unintelligible song.

For the last few days, I have gotten up with the sun. Once you start getting up every day at 7:00, it's hard to make it stop. Anyway, as I pull the cord on the blinds to let in the aforementioned sun, I am greeted by a small brown bird who has seemingly signed up to spend the mornings on the edge of the pine tree outside my window. This bird, whom I have affectionately named Stevie, sits there singing his little bird song for the duration of my morning devotions and before I leave the comfort of my bed to shower, he chirps a little louder and takes flight. He takes flight directly into my bedroom window.

Now, I am not a huge fan of birds, but the first time it happened I flew from under my chocolate brown comforter and made sure Stevie's broken bird carcass wasn't embedded in the bushes. When I saw him perched back on his branch, I couldn't help but chuckle. I have watched this bird several times throughout the week and it is always the same routine of sitting, singing and smashing into my window. I began to wonder about my little bird Stevie. Why would he continue to attempt the flight and what is he thinking as he sings that last song before take off?

I realized, one of those mornings, that Stevie and I aren't all that different. Every morning he sits on his branch and sings. A branch that he has come to know as "his branch". It's comfortable and maybe he has even made a few friends from spending his mornings on that branch... the squirrel on the ground below or the robin in the tree next door. Whatever the reason, he loves mornings on my pine tree. Once he musters up the strength, he sings goodbye to the comfortable place he's come to love and excitedly takes off for a new start. He gets a running start and then SMASH... an obstacle. Stevie, being the persistent little bird that he is, finds his way back to the branch only to start again the next morning.

I feel a strange connection with that bird. Like his new start every morning is MY new start every morning. Like his obstacles are my obstacles. Now, I know that comparing myself to a sparrow (im guessing, I have no idea if he's a sparrow) may seem insane and I'm not all too sure that I explained my thought process very well, but maybe you'll see where I'm going with it. In short, Stevie and I aren't all that different. I muster up the strength to start anew with many different aspects of my life on a daily basis and I may crash into a bedroom window now and again, but I'll always find my way, singing, back to my branch.

"I'm like a bird..."
Tempa