A Lesson from Our Feathered Friends

Last week I was visited by a family of Blue Jays. I had run into them earlier in the morning on my way to work and then later on in the evening when I returned from work they resurfaced again. That evening, they were outside my door all perched on a white chair and the parents were pushing each fledgling off the chair in hopes of teaching them how to fly. It was such a delightful sight to see! I walked away for a while and later on returned to find the entire family gone with the exception of one small fledgling (the one shown in the photo). The fledgling was sitting out there looking up toward the sky. I walked outside to see if I could locate the remainder of the family but they were no where to be found. The bird did not know to be threatened by me and made no attempts to leave or distance itself from me. It just looked up at me trustingly.

I had determined that the parents and remainder of the tribe would soon be back to retrieve the baby and I got out of the way. Hours passed and the baby fledgling was still sitting on my door step peering up at me each time I peered outside. I checked throughout the night and it was still out there in the corner and still no family. I, of course, was battling with my thoughts that the baby must be scared and abandoned. It also occured to me that the bird could be killed by the neighborhood cat. My instinct was to want to rescue it. However, I knew if I did so it would greatly reduce the bird’s chances of being reunited with its family. I journeyed to the mother Blue Jay and I got the message that this was the fledgling’s initiation. It was learning to survive out in the world alone. She assured me that she was watching close by and that all was well.

I checked throughout the night and into the morning and the baby bird was still there. Despite my desire to rescue what I assumed was truly an abandoned bird at that point, I trusted the message I recieved in my journey and walked away without intervening. This was difficult for me! I walked upstairs to the kitchen and my landlord/roommate came in and told me that throughout the night there was a blue jay that kept coming up to his window sill and peering down. I realized that although I did not see her, the mother Blue Jay true to her word, was watching over the fledgling. At that point I peered outside and the mother emerged looking down over the baby.

The birds had provided me with a great teaching. I was dealing with some internal challenges regarding fear of the void at that moment. This experience taught me that despite the fact that we may feel alone on our journey, even while having to walk through some dark times, spirit is always there watching over us, urging us to strengthen our wings, grow our abilities, and find peace in solace even if we do not realize that spirit is there.