I recently returned from a trip to New Orleans and look what I brought back! Well, maybe not the actual bird, but the memory for sure.
My mother, my daughter and I took a swamp tour, traveling across the lazy water on a small vessel with a couple from Texas and our guide who had boated this bayou since he was a small boy. Because I specifically booked a tour that advertised itself as the only one that did not feed the wildlife, I had no idea if we would see anything. I had hoped for alligators.
So, gliding along in the flat boat on the flat river, intently gazing at the brown shoreline to try to spot brown alligators, I heard/felt something overhead. I looked up and for just a few seconds experienced an explosion of pink feathers in the sky–a Roseate Spoonbill. It was so quick, only the guide and I saw it. He spun the boat around to see if we could find where it landed, but no luck.
She showed herself once and only once. Her magical presence was an unexpected gift meant to be savored in one precise moment. I couldn’t attach to an expectation of seeing the bird because I did not know they existed, nor could I attach to an expectation of continuing to see it. Once she was gone, she was gone. Because I don’t frequent the Gulf Coast or South America where the Spoonbills live, I may never see another one. I had to be right there, right then, fully present to my experience in order to have it. If I had been thinking about how hot I was or worrying about something back home or fixating on anything except the very moment I was in, I would have missed it.
So, what’s the big deal? I was on a wildlife tour, and I got lucky and saw a bright pink bird. But I don’t believe in luck. I believe in synchronicity. This bird in this moment was my teacher.
Pink is a heart color. To me, birds represent rising above, expansion and freedom. I consider my soul work an ongoing effort to free my heart to an ever-expanding embodiment of love so that I can point others toward their experience of the same. It is why I call my business Remember Your Wings. One brief moment helped me remember mine that day.
Oh, and I also saw some awesome alligators in their natural environment.
