What I Learned From Birds...

A couple of months ago, a robin decided to build her nest in our garage. More specifically, this robin diligently created her nest in the frame of my bicycle which was hanging upside down from our rafters. At first, the bird would dart out as soon as we entered the garage. But the longer she stayed, the more comfortable she became having us around.

In the beginning, I thought how wonderfully exciting this would be; very National Geographic like and so educational for the children. When we figured she had laid her eggs and we could no longer close our garage doors...ever...I had some misgivings. But that's an entirely different post.

So, this robin sat on her eggs for a few weeks and all I kept thinking about was how those newborn baby birds were going to get out of the garage. I mean, flying in and of itself was a challenge without the added obstacles of miscelaneous rafters, beams, doors, windows, etc. I feared greatly that they would impail themselves on something in their early days and we'd come home to a sweet dead baby bird on our garage floor.

I really just had no idea how birds learned to fly. Does their mama carry them somehow and then drop them and then bump them back up if they start to fall? You know, like does she proverbially "hold their hand" while they take the first leap? Do they all go together? What if they're too scared and they never leave the nest? I mean, my goodness, there they'd be...days old, peeking out over the sides of their nest, curious about the world outside our garage...and OH MY GOODNESSS...there'd be a big 'ole drop onto a hard looking floor not to mention the menacing tractor staring back up at them. And then they'd look out trying to form a plan and there are all these obstacles and beams and doors and things in their way. I really did just fear for them...and wonder!

But it wasn't long until the eggs hatched and we saw the robin sitting higher in her nest and leaving a bit more frequently. {well, with three new little mouths to feed I guess she was a little busy} I thought for sure it would be a while before those birds needed to worry about flying. We checked in on them from time to time and found that they were growing much more quickly than I had anticipated. Then, all of a sudden one day, we walked out into the garage and there was the bird, out of the nest, over by the window, trying to figure out how to get out. I, being the Nervous Nelly that I am, thought for sure we needed to do something about this. But my calm as anything husband assured me that the baby bird would be fine. The next day, we went out to find that not only had the bird found it's way out, but it's siblings had also left the nest and were finding their way out as well. Just like that.

Now, they had their troubles. Many times I heard a bird stuck up in the rafters or saw one trying to get out through a closed window. But eventually, they all made it out. And what occurred to me was that none of us know what we're doing or how to do until we just do it. And I thought about all the times in my life when I've had to fly without knowing how. Like when I graduated from college with no clue where to go next. Or when I brought my fist born home from the hospital surprised to find that they simply allow you to just walk right out the door with them without proper demos or a peek at the owner's manual. And when I launched my soap business not knowing either how to actually make soap or how to run a business. Everyday there are a multitude of moments where I think to myself "but I don't know how" and it seems so scary to just leap out of my nest where everything is familiar and dependable. But, as the robins showed me, you just have to do it and figure it out as you go.

And I'm pretty sure that if you ask anyone, they'll tell you that they did not receive the mega how-to manual for their life either. During O Magazine's 10th anniversary celebration, Elizabeth Gilbert, author of "Eat, Pray, Love" gave an excellent speech and mentioned how we all think that there are some people who have just been handed all the answers..because it may seem that way. But really that's not the case. We are all struggling trying to be bold and brave. We are all just little baby birds in cozy nests, wanting to spread our wings out into the world. And none of us know how. But the only way to learn is just to leap...to take a chance...to acknowledge that the risk of facing adversity {like a closed window or a wrong turn} is a small price to pay for the chance to soar!