Adulting: I Learn From Birds...

I’m slightly obsessed with feeding the birds. I will always be a cat mama in my heart. But since my kitty passed away, I’ve found such happiness in watching (stalking?) winged beauties peck away at the seed in my garden. (I’m living in England, guys. So, I’m going to use “garden.”)

I have my feathery regulars, and I am starting to learn what seed types they like. It’s a tiny community, and I’m fascinated by it.

But all is not paradise. One day I watched in disgust as some of the bigger birds were picking on the sparrows. Because sparrows are so abundant, I feel they get taken for granted. Also, I have a soft spot in my heart for the underdog.

Then I learned some truths about my beloved sparrows: they can be bullies. In fact, they are categorized as “bully birds.” (Can’t get more obvious than that.)

I've even heard they also have a bad habit of building their nests on top of other birds’ nests. While the eggs are still in it.

Not the best move, guys.

As I was pondering my sparrows and thinking maybe they deserve the treatment they get, I realized I do the same thing with people: I see into a small window of someone’s life, and I think I know where justice should be served. And I know I’m not the only one to do this.

We see an impatient, grouchy Mama. Her son might have just asked her the same question for the 25th time, fully knowing what the answer would be. We don’t see the countless nights that same mama sat up with her child, cradling him as he cried in distress.

We see the angry driver honking at us. We don’t see that he’s on his way to the hospital because he just found out his father had a stroke and might not make it.

We see the know-it-all neighbor girl calling our beloved child STUPID. We don’t see the shame she gets from her parents on a daily basis.

Like the birds in my community, we are such a complex weave of the world around us. So, I still generously fill the feeder that the feisty sparrows eat from. Because none of us are always at our best, and we all need to eat. And while we are not always gentle, or kind, or right, we always need love. And its often love that fuels a person into doing the right thing.

So just like me with my sparrows, we all should continue to watch, help where we can, and have hope for other people.