Through The Looking Glass: Crazy Birds
- Alice Patterson
- Dec 9, 2017
- 2 min read
Sometimes, insanity shows up dressed in feathers.
"I'm watching that bird," my friend Steph says laughing, looking up at the three-story concrete building behind me where we spend our days working. We're outside soaking up the sun during a break on an otherwise chilly day. I turn and look up to see what she's talking about.
The bird in question has itself clinging to the side of the building, about three inches below one of the large, plate-glass windows that go around the whole structure... and it's pecking the hell out of the stucco. Peck-peck-peck-peck-peck. It appears convinced the building is a tree, or perhaps a large source of bird food. We start laughing. The bird pauses, and we wonder what its next move will be. And WHOOSH, there it flies about five feet over to the right and clings to the side of the building under the next window. It starts doing the same thing. Peck-peck-peck-peck-peck. Now we're laughing uncontrollably.
"Oh my god, if that bird flies over to the next window I'm gonna DIE right now," I say between laughter and tears of hysteria. And there it goes again, WHOOSH, five feet over for more pecking. And a few minutes later, AGAIN it goes under the next window. After trying four different spots of stucco, the bird finally gives up and flies the coop. We watch it as it takes off and lands in a large tree in the parking lot, perhaps welcomed back by a disappointed spouse who'd been hoping for at least a few worms.
"Now THAT's the definition of insanity," Steph said. We wipe our laugh-tears. The bird, in all of its earnestness, was doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results with each try.
I've been the bird. And sometimes I still find myself pecking away at the same stucco, hoping for life to deliver a different answer to me: I don't watch what I eat, and wonder why my jeans are still too tight. I don't write every day, and wonder why my book isn't finished. I say I trust in whatever life has in store for me, yet I still have days where I worry incessantly,,,about everything.
What I've leaned is this: Making changes when things aren't working doesn't have to be hard, but it does take decision and commitment. Sometimes it's just a matter of taking a breath, letting go, and starting over another day. Just like the crazy bird.