Dear Wise Lindsay, what about how I am feeling this week?
Some weeks are like this. I would say to anyone else feeling similarly that maybe their heart is asking for them to take a break from the outside and attend within.
I imagine you kneeling down and scooping a baby bird into your hands (and let’s forget how the mama bird will likely reject the hatchling because your scent is now on it; this does not apply to this particular species in this scenario, phew). All you need to do is keep that bird safe in your cupped hands, away from passing dogs and prowling alley cats. It is not much, but to that little bird, it is everything.
I don’t know if you can say that the work you’ve done so far this year doesn’t matter, just as you can’t say that this baby bird doesn’t matter. What has this baby bird done for this world? Does it deserve the type of ending it likely would have gotten had you not rescued it?
You feel fragile this week. Let it be, all of it. You have nothing to prove. You have nothing to fix. I know that you don’t feel like dancing. I know that you would rather curl into a ball and hide for a couple of days. And to this I offer a radical idea- what if you did just that?
You worked for over 20 years and then you quit your job and now you find yourself almost a full year in to this new life, where you have had to be so brave and courageous, and it has felt scary at times. What if you just allowed some quiet? What if you continue to hold on to that baby bird and go gently about these next couple of days? You are tired, and it does no good to hate yourself back into having energy. Sit with a book. Allow. Accept. It’s okay.
As for your writing– do we need to decide now if it is worth it or not? You didn’t think twice about that baby bird. All you knew is that you couldn’t leave it uncared for on the sidewalk. That little bird matters.
Squeeze drops of water into that open beak, one slow drop at a time. Splurge on blueberries and groats. I trust that soon that bird will be ready to return to its nest. Soon, that bird will be ready to fly. But for now, let’s hold it close. With gentle care, that bird will find its way.
With love,
Wise Lindsay
