Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Can you fly?

Red-tailed Hawks diving in courtship. Note: Th...Image via Wikipedia

On Monday of this week over at Contemplative Photography there was a very descriptive post about an Advent service the author had attended; also a quote in her Advent readings from The Gospel of Thomas about a heron sitting, perhaps listening to the sounds of the winds and grasses, seemingly as though "he'd forgotten how to fly." That sentence was just the thing to complete a thought that's been percolating in my mind a week or so.

Have I forgotten how to fly? Have you? There must be a time in our lives that we can remember "flying." Of course, I mean metaphorically flying - I'm not a total nut - but really, were we 6 or 8 years old on a new bike, or 22 or so when graduating from or quitting college, or falling in love for the first time, or landing the job or starting the company that no one really believed would go anywhere for us? Couldn't we fly then even without support from anyone? We didn't need a dad or mom holding the bike, or paying the bills (anymore), or smugly smiling at our plans to graduate magna cum laude, or telling us that first loves were notoriously weak, or that dreaming you could just walk into a big corporation and land a job or throw together a small company and sell ourselves was just a ridiculous notion? We could fly, we flew! We did those things confidently, maybe scared to death, but confidently. We did well.

For some of us that confidence may have or may be diminishing as we age. Perhaps, we tell ourselves, we're wiser and more cautious now realizing that others really never knew "who we were" or they wouldn't have entrusted us with so much responsibility. They didn't know then that we couldn't and can't really fly and what if they find out now? Our bodies, as well as our self-esteem, are now plummeting to the ground as though we've forgotten how to fly!

Well I say, in the censored voice of a politically correct blogger, - baloney! We/you do too still know how to fly. We are masters of the air by now. We can do more swoops, loops, and calls than head-over-heels in love Red-Tailed hawks in full court courting! We have more experience than we ever expected we could acquire and people cry out for our experience daily. The only thing holding us back from launching anything whether it's business, or friendship, or straight talk with our families about life, is ourselves! I say step out into the air and fly, soar, and strut your stuff - there are probably more people supporting your success now than there ever have been in your life!

Another quote quoted months ago as fodder for blogging is from author Wendy Garrett (my apologies to which one of my blogger pals quoted Wendy, but it was a great quote and I'm using it here without giving you credit:(

"As you think, so you are.
As you dream, so you become.
As you create your wishes, so they create you."

And finally, have you flown today and if not, why not? Have you taken any great flights this year or you saving them all for a fabulous 2010? I've got wonderful flying plans for myself - what are you going to be up to? I'd love to hear..........


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10 comments:

  1. Great post.

    When I retired in mid-2007 after almost 25 years editing and writing for the same company and more than 30 in the profession overall, I cried and then got up and got going. I love art, so I founded a little company called Transformational Threads. I license images of fine art that then are rendered into custom hand-embroidery in Vietnam. I took up my poetry writing again and I now have almost two manuscripts of which I'm proud. I started blogging, and am now doing the feature writing I missed for too long. I joined Twitter and found an online group of wonderful poets with whom we hold Twitter poetry jams that are fabulous and fun. I "met" you and Diane and Christine and Louise and so many other great people online. And I just sent in my first application for a grant from my college to do a collaborative project with artists to honor my brother who died of cancer in May.

    I don't know exactly what freed me so but I am free and I'm soaring again and what a wonderful feeling it is!

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  2. The above comment from Maureen is the only thing so far that's made me even remotely want to join Twitter.

    I love this post. I've been thinking in the same vein, but not with this wonderful flight imagery. I've been realizing how much blogging is affecting my sense of identity. I just started in September, but it's quickly become a mainstay of my life. Writing again regularly, putting it out there and getting responses - this is huge for me. I've been a writer all my life, but put it aside for a long time. Now I'm really flying with it like I never have before, and I can't believe I existed without spreading these wings for so long. I'm beginning to see how much neglecting this aspect of myself distorted and limited me.

    Thanks for listing me on your sidebar! I'm on there twice, though, for some reason.

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  3. Dear Maureen -

    You can and you do fly!!! Your projects and enthusiasm are contagious and I hope to some of my readers that your words will be an inspiration. Leaving our youth behind does not mean we leave our wings, our minds, our abilities behind. I believe we are to take all of the experience and talent that we've been given and use it, expand it, in essence just down right flaunt it for the good of ourselves and for creation. Thanks so much for your comments!

    xoxo

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  4. Pollinatrix -
    It is wonderful to hear your story of finding and using your wings. Blogging is an amazing experience and has taught me so much about myself and about others who write and relate to the same experiences that I've faced. The writing discipline is so extraordinary for me and it sounds as though you're experiencing the same mislaid talent. It's wonderful to read what you have to say - and thanks for the note about your being a double entry on my blogs to visit regularly - I guess I though it was an important site to note:)

    xoxo

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  5. SS, As I read this post, I was suddenly sitting in a circle of women in the living room of St. Andrew's retreat house. I could so clearly see you giving us this exhortation! What fun! I hope that some day we will be there together again. You don't remember that you are the one who said, "Write! You must write!" Well, I am writing. And it is one of the best ways that my feet get to leave the ground these days. : )

    But as far as flying and being cautious....I just took up downhill skiing and few years ago and I am terrible. The ski conditions here in Alaska are almost always BAD which means poor visibility, icy and cold. And much of the time instead of feeling exhilerated (sp?) and excited, I'm scared to death. I really want to be free of this fear on the mountain and just fly down. Maybe it will happen in the spring.

    Thanks for your encouragement. Love....

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  6. i know you have considered me nuts/crazy/whatever for skydiving a few years ago, but it was this absolute need for flight that was the driving force - not thrill seeking or risk for the sake of risk, etc. it was the desire to FLY. i could see it and feel it and KNOW that i was made to fly. in addition to being a great metaphor, it was also a fabulous reminder that if i can be so freaking terrified to stand on the edge of that tiny plane and then JUMP and soar and fall and all of those other things; then finally stand with a huge smile on my face, having faced death and then feeling incredibly alive... i know nothing else is quite as scary as facing death... oh i am rambling here - reliving that time, combined with this time. i choose to FLY. i choose LIFE! yep, i can still FLY!

    thanks for the reminder :-) xoxooxo

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  7. Thank you for your thoughtful comments.

    I don't LOVE to write like so many of you... but I do want to SOAR... wherever God precedes.

    You're right. My body is changing, but, positively, my self concept is morphing into a new phase to accomodate this new expression of what's inside.

    The journey continues, doesn't it?
    Thanks for your posts, and making your swoops and loops so we can enjoy them too!!

    Happy flying.

    (I also want to thank you for listing my blog on the side of your page. This blogger needs to get in gear and blog more regularly!!)

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  8. Your low motivation for writing is surprising to me as I always enjoy what you have to say. Is it the interaction of group facilitator an energy booster for you - just curious...

    xoxo

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  9. Thanks so much for reminding me that this non-flying-ness I'm struggling with might be a bit arbitrary -- and age-related. Time to set my sights higher again!

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  10. Lucy and Rebecca - How could I have missed your wonderful comments when they came in....well, I've caught them now. R - I'm so glad you are writing. You offer so much to all of your readers.

    ..and Lucy, Lucy, I knew you could fly. You didn't have to do that jump for me!!! Yikes. But, really who knew how wide you could really spread those wings - only a good fairy-godmother perhaps, or maybe even a deity greater than that:)

    Dr. W - Your sights seem pretty high to me as far as accomplishment. Your writing, photography, and poetry all inspirational.

    To all of my blogger friends, I use the word inspirational a lot to describe you but that is because that word is so apt to how you all affect me. It's wonderful to be a part of your world!

    xoxox

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