Flying with a magic compass

“I look up to the little bird that glides across the sky. It sings the clearest melody that makes me want to cry…” -Annie Lennox

Close your eyes and imagine you’re a bird, catching a thermal and flying through the skies as if not a worry or question drifts through your mind, you’re perfectly free like Jonathan Seagull.

How do you feel, wonderful?

Now to put a spin on things a storm is beginning to form and you’re getting hungry and tired; time to ground yourself, find food and shelter.

Life always leaves us with these conundrums in which we have to find the best course to take. I mean, really? We were just so happy in those moments and now the wind whips us out of the fresh, open air and we’re diving for the ground.

Okay, maybe I’ll nibble on some fresh, juicy berries, yum.

There’s nothing like optimism, and yes, I do sometimes find myself getting disappointed in my preference of viewing the world.

But you know, I also feel well rewarded when the magic spins in my favor or that of my friends, family, the child now in remission, the lost dog no longer alone on the streets and home, the lonely man or woman who finds love and a place to grow.

And don’t you know this gives me a thought: how would that be if we had in our possession a magical compass to guide us all in the right direction?

You know, during those moments in life when you feel you’re at a crossroads, thinking, “What do I do now? Where do I go? What do I want? Who do I want?” These never-ending questions riddle your brain.

So let’s pretend for a minute. You take hold of your “you must help me now” tool of living and voice the words, “Okay, almighty compass, do your thing, please!”

Naturally, the mystical gadget can just read your mind and knows your soul, and as you watch the arrow spin in a furious rage or a quiet solemnity in congruence to your mood at the time, you wait for an answer, an answer to some of your most penetrating questions. Wow, that would be very cool.

Unfortunately on this planet nothing of such transforming wonder exists.

I remember one time I had a question pertaining to my career, before I was so fortunate as to be able to write to you each week.

My daughter pulled out her magic 8 ball. There it was, my answer or my last resort.

She flipped it upside down, and I read the message though the little window: “Better not tell you now.”

“Ask it again,” I said, then shake, flip and the foretelling window read: “Without a doubt.” Yay! Good answer. That was fun.

Most of the time we have to rely on our own intuitions, knowledge of the world, our hearts and dreams.

When those seem to falter or are at a stand still, all smudged together in a cloud of uncertainty and there really is no right or wrong, we find the next best thing, escape: books and book clubs, wine clubs or whatever, meditation, ambling through nature as we look up to the infinite sky.

I think deep down we do know it all along and sometimes like Dorothy Gale we have to find out for ourselves; travel the winding roads through Oz and our humanity.

And when we do meet with those jagged cliffs and don’t even want to look down, with richness and fortitude we prevail in our continuing search for the truth, our truth that encourages us to leap and not worry about falling, because now, after all, we can fly…

Ciao Bella

Posted by Janel M. Harrison on July 18, 2013. Filed under Columns,Girl-2-Girl,Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry