05/10/2023
A few weeks back I had the privilege of sitting with a baby Raven who had found itself in our backyard unable to master the art of flight yet.
It’s parents circled above, calling out and the young raven flapped it’s wings with all its might but just could not get high enough to fly over our fence.
After some time watching and sitting with the raven I ushered it down our side passage way towards the back gate and opened the gate, so it could get out of our yard and into a more spacious area where it could have more room to practice this new skill.
As always my interactions in nature teach me greatly, and it got me thinking about how sometimes before we prepare to step into something new, to soar on our metaphorical wings we need some time to ground.
After each attempt which took an incredible amount of energy for this young bird, it would sit on the ground and take a moment to collect itself, catch its breath, before it’s next try.
I reflected on my own life and how I’ve been learning some big deep lessons of late, learning to detach from old patterns, building new ways of being, healing from past hurts… this deep work sometimes can leave us feeling really ungrounded and a bit adrift amongst the chaos of change.
Getting grounded in these moments is vital and can come in a variety of ways. You can try grounding meditations, take your shoes off and walk on the earth, you can bury yourself in sand at the beach and one of the most simple things is what is often referred to as “carry wood and chop water” but menial, ordinary tasks like washing up, gardening, take out the rubbish can all help to bring us back into the present moment and help us to feel more grounded.
The good news is that later that day I saw the little raven flapping it’s wings high up in a gum tree next to our house, it’s parents circled over my daughter and I as we walked by.
My daughter said “they might be saying thank you” and I believe they were bud it is I who is thankful for the lesson it taught me.
