It’s Time To Grow: Remembering To Fly

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​  Let’s go. It doesn’t matter where we’re going. It’s enough to know that we’ll find that out along the way.

I am privileged that in the summertime, there are a flock of Mississippi Kites that migrate into my neighborhood and entertain us overhead.

One of my most favorite things to do is to float in our pool and watch these beautiful birds flying, high in the sky. What is so amazing about them is that sometimes they fly so high, they are only specks in the distance.

Then a short time later, they return down closer to the earth and I can make out the outlines of their bodies again, their narrow, pointed wings flapping as they soar over air drafts. These birds are so graceful that it almost appears as if they are floating in the air. 

They take to the skies with no destination in mind, other than to fly. The aerial show, from the ground, is breathtaking. It seems that for these birds, flying, being aloft, is the ultimate goal. Not where they are going.

So often, we as humans, confuse our time on Earth, with obsessions about what we’ve accomplished, where we are going, and what purposeful thing we are going to do next.

We get hyper focused on outside world results and silence our inner needs to love, to be loved, to learn, to know the truth of our spirit, until we can somehow be assured that these efforts will take us somewhere. 

We put all our life force into making sure that these endeavors will result in tangible and productive results, so much so, that by the end of our days, our weeks, our months and our years, we are exhausted and feel disconnected from meaning.

All of these conditions, hesitations, yes-buts and what ifs completely turn our human journey upside down, never letting the heart, wing that it is, truly unfold. 

It’s so interesting, because as I observe the birds, they respond into flight, only and simply by the presence of light that stirs them to flight and to song. They don’t consider concepts such as holding back or only investing if the return seems certain.

In this, humans are some of the only creatures  that seek out guarantees, certainties, and in doing so, work against our hearts. We snuff out the spark of our aliveness in each of our denials of what draws us closer towards it, energizes our experience of need, whether from a place of curiosity or necessity.
Try as much as you might to imagine, construct direction, to plan and know what this life ought to be, it is the pulse of our heart itself that connects you higher into your spirit. 

In truth, the wings of birds don’t grow any differently to fit north, south, east or west. Our deepest frequency of aliveness inside each of us, is more fundamental in showing our true direction than any direction of worldly ambition. 

We, like the birds, are meant to fly and sing- to love and to be loved- to evolve into a higher place than when we came into this world. That’s all. All the rest: our plans, visions, goals, and schemes are like the twigs of the nest that once outgrown, we leave for bigger things.

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​For this experiment, here are the steps:          

• Find a quiet space in which you can meditate or focus on some desire or dream you have hesitated to give energy to. It might be your want to dance, or to play the piano; an impulse to travel somewhere that is calling to you, or the urge to get to know someone, even yourself.
• Breathe deeply for a few minutes, letting the feeling rise unencumbered. Don’t push or pull on it. For these few minutes, give it permission to rise, unfettered.
• As you breathe, focus on any hesitation or negativity that arises in you towards yourself or about this desire. It might stem from a fear of failure, judgment, rejection or fear of the unknown. Let whatever comes, come.
• As you connect with this place, you might imagine sending light or energy to surround both this desire and any negativity that arises in you. Understand that in any of the places where you feel the impossibility of supporting yourself in this desire, there is a very important reason why this is so. This is about emotional protection.
• As you make room for this desire and accompanying hesitation, know that just as wings can only fly if they have room to move, your ability to live deeply -- to be happy and full -- will grow only in relationship to how much you support your heart and what it desires. When you have enough emotional support to follow your heart’s desires, you’ll be ready to take the first step into your own flight. There are ways to learn how to fly that are there for you when you are ready. 
• Take all the time that you need in this place. Wrap up in whatever way feels comfortable to you.