Yesterday (Friday) I was feeling a little worn down. It had been a long work week and I was already exhausted. I had one more 8 hour day left to go and I needed the motivation to keep on moving.
Before I started my workday, I opened my blinds in my office to let in the sunshine…or what sunshine there could be with rain in the forecast…and took a deep cleansing breath to start my day. When I opened those blinds I was surprised to see a vibrant yellow bird perched in the maple tree in our front yard which is directly across from the window I was standing in front of.
The tiny yellow bird had black markings on its head and wings, so I took note of the details to look up later and stood a moment in reverence to watch it. The little fellow primped and preened and flittered around on the branch like all birds do. Meanwhile I stood in awe of its beauty and grace.
I took its presence below my window as a reminder that each one of us is unique. We not have brightly-colored yellow feathers with black details, but each of us has the chance to shine and catch the eye of the world in our own way. We make a choice each day to show our beauty on a branch or to hide away in the shrubbery.
What is your choice for how you shine today?
Update:
I saw my little yellow friend again yesterday morning and shared the experience with my son before he ran off to catch the bus to school. I grabbed a quick photo of it from my phone, so the quality isn’t great. Just proof that my buddy came to say (chirp?) Hello.
Maybe I’ll have to open the window sometime and see if I can call it over with its distinctive po-ta-to-chip call…or offer it some for a snack? Doing some research, they are primarily vegetarian (Cornell University) and are fairly common. (So why haven’t I seen them as much as I have the last few weeks?)
I started wondering to myself, with the return of my cheery yellow visitor what they could symbolize. The website AskingLot.com says, “The meaning of the goldfinch signifies abundance and prosperity. It symbolizes the importance of positivity and optimism, and the value of happiness, joy, and simplicity in your life. Just like the crow spirit animal, the goldfinch meaning also points to the need for variety and diversity.” (Asking Lot) I know I could use a lot of optimism after the dumpster fire that was 2020, so I’ll take it. And having this tiny reminder to embrace variety and diversity is definitely something to pay attention to and embrace these days.
Maybe 2020 was kinder to you than it was to me, but we as a people experienced so much turmoil over diversity this past year…and some Wins! Let’s continue to emerge by embracing our own diversity, the diversity of others, and the diversity that makes us all different but the same.
References:
Cornell University, 2019, American Goldfinch, retrieved from: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Goldfinch/overview#
Bianconi, Waris. 2020, May 10 What does seeing a Goldfinch mean?, AskingLot.com. Retrieved from: https://askinglot.com/what-does-seeing-a-goldfinch-mean
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