Free Bird: A Self Portrait
When I was a skinny teen, I was all limbs and a big nose for my face. The kids at the school bus stop teased me relentlessly because I was quiet and shy and didn't fight back. "Bird" was the nickname they settled on and I pretended it wasn't painful even though it was.
As I grew up, I became ambivalent about birds. They were noisy and messy and a nuisance on mornings I was trying to sleep in.
But there has been a shift over the last year or two and I find myself seeing the morning birds as angels that greet the day. I am grateful now for the small, still bird I've been and the one I am today, who is learning to spread her wings and fly.
This phoenix has risen after all.
As I grew up, I became ambivalent about birds. They were noisy and messy and a nuisance on mornings I was trying to sleep in.
But there has been a shift over the last year or two and I find myself seeing the morning birds as angels that greet the day. I am grateful now for the small, still bird I've been and the one I am today, who is learning to spread her wings and fly.
This phoenix has risen after all.