An Open Window (#14)
I used to rent an art studio in an old, converted mill building. Each floor was divided into about thirty studios but the dividing walls didn’t go all the way to the ceiling; there was about an eight foot space above them. The windows in the building were huge. One night, before the screens had been installed, a pair of doves flew into the building. When I arrived the following morning, they were frantically flying back and forth the whole length of the building, trying to find a way out. A fellow artist was there with a handful of bread trying to direct the birds towards the big, wide open windows to no avail. I remember saying to her, “It’s so frustrating to watch them. They think they are trapped. The open windows are right there! All they need to do is slightly change their direction and they’d be free.”
I’ve heard that the same thing is true about bees. If you leave them in a jar with holes poked in the lid for long enough, they will get so used to the confinement that, even when you take the lid off, they won’t know enough to fly away!
I think that we humans are sometimes like the bees and the doves. We are blind to the windows of opportunity that are right in front of us. Are you feeling trapped in a situation right now? Perhaps if you just look at it from a slightly different angle, you might see that the window to your freedom has been open for you all along.
Wishing you many open windows to let your spirit soar!
Paula
Thank you so much for the story of the doves and bees. You have truly hit the nail on the proverbial head. With free will we can change our direction at anytime, but being human, we have become so goal driven, we cannot see that often the way to our goal is around and not a straight line directly to the goal.
I need to say thank you a lot for your work you have made in writing this post. I am hoping the same top job by you in the future as well.