I remember as a child how I would sing along with the birds outside of my house; I always started out listening, so I could learn their tones and tunes fully. I then slowly began to sing their song. I would choose the bird’s song that stuck out to me the most, and I would repeat it like a call and response. I would sing louder and louder, testing my limits with the flock, until they would eventually all fall silent. As much as I wanted to sound like the group, they could tell my tone was unfamiliar and forced. Then, about five minutes would go by before they all started singing again. For minutes that turned into hours, I would sing with the birds desperately trying to have the flock embrace me as their own. I was desperate to sing with them and be accepted through repeating their songs. However, they never did. I would walk inside my house hours later knowing that what I had just experienced was bigger than myself. I was already feeling part of a new community, yet still also felt separate and I wasn’t sure why.
Years since, I have shared similar experiences with my associates, friends and family. I sometimes would find myself shadowing their actions, because it seemed like the right thing to do. I would listen to my friends and followed in order to find happiness. However, these choices would sometimes lead me down a path that made me feel unlike my best self. Because I was not being my authentic self, I was not embracing the most enlightened form of who I could be. I was taking the rocky path with no shoes on.
What the birds taught me is this: You must embrace your own song in order to be a part of the flock. Being different is what makes you a part of the whole. Because there is no one like you, you are especially essential to the universe. There are more than a million songs inside of you simply waiting to be sung; all humming with opportunity.
To celebrate your uniqueness is to liberate your genuine best self.
Go out and fly.
Lindsay
