I think that I shall never see anything as sweet as that birdie on the tree. That's right, not IN, but ON. The tree was about my height. Looks dead. Stick like. And the beautiful Robin perched upon it as if it were a royal throne. He didn't care that it was the shortest tree. Or the ugliest. Or the driest. He pushed out his breast and sang. And in doing so, brought joy to my very short lunch break. Real joy.
It's amazing how seeing someone in not the best of circumstances choose to "sing" to be happy, to smile, makes life so much more bearable. All is not lost. Things are not as terrible as they might seem. It's like their willingness to bear up under the struggle with love and humor allows us to look at our own lives and stand a little taller, breathe a little deeper.
That's why community is so important. You have to be around others. You have to see others. If you don't, all you see is you. If all you see is you then you get bogged down in your pain, trauma and drama. But, when you lift up your head and let the sun shine on your face, you see the faithful, robin-like folks who look at their life's circumstances and declare, "I am content."
It's easy to be the chicken. Always poking around on the ground looking for cast off food or seed, intent on only what is right in front of you. It's also easy to continually envy the soaring, out of reach eage. But, somehow, the robin, though very common, is very inspiring. Beautiful eggs. Faithful singer. Flying and yet down to earth enough to affect the average person. Yep, I wanna be like that robin. I want to look around and sing a bright little song that brings joy and hope to someone along the way.
blessings,
rhonda
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