Expressing myself can be intimidating, and writing demands considerable effort on my part. Today, my sassy friend, Martha insisted I start writing again and so I’m acquiescing… more so to prevent her from telling me a fourth time.
After the horrors of the last 6 years, I drove back across the country and returned to the beautiful West Coast. To my heart, the coast has been the closest thing to what I consider “home”. The beauty is jaw-dropping and life feels civilized and balanced. People on the coast are a rare breed. Friendly, open, and happy with their own lives, I’ve rarely heard petty gossip or material comparisons being made.
Trust me, it’s a wonderful change from where I was previously. In that environment, life resembled more than just a senseless rat race; it was a hostile battleground where the rats openly displayed anger and disdain for each other.
After desperately missing the coast and resigning myself to the possibility of never seeing it again, it was overwhelming when those mountains came into view. There are days when I feel like it's all a dream. On other occasions, I've been brought to tears by the sheer disbelief of finding myself here again. How on earth did that happen?
Accompanying me, Frankie, my dog likes the milder temperatures, salty air, and seawall strolls. His joy is evident in that canine “smile” on his furry face and lively skip in his step, sniffing a tree or bush along his way. Since arriving, we have enjoyed every walk including those in the recent snowstorm. The fluffy drifts saw Frankie diving face first into them and emerging a four-legged snow dog.
During our first couple of weeks back, Martha introduced me to her “Frankie”, a hummingbird who’d started visiting her feeder last year. Unlike his canine counterpart, this tiny fellow was a little dictator and kept chasing the other hummingbirds away from the feeder. My friend was threatening to take matters into her own hands if he didn’t stop being a bully; one bird was not going to starve a community. Being an energy worker, I decided to work on feathered Frankie right away.
It took a couple of sessions but eventually, the little guy started to stay away, as I’d instructed and over the coming weeks and months, was very good. Visiting daily, he allowed other birds to stop in and eat their fill from the now three feeders, with no threat of any of them being chased away by him. My friend was pleased with my work, happy that Frankie was allowing the others to feed, and I, relieved beyond words! Frankie would live another day! Unfortunately, this would all change.
The recent snowstorms that wreaked havoc in the lower mainland also impacted our avian balcony community significantly. The snow must have cause little Frankie to fear starvation and so once again, he took his post as territorial flying ninja. His aggressive behaviour resumed, dive-bombing the other birds, and causing my friend to rethink taking him out.
It’s curious to me how the two Frankies reflect society. The fearless, joyful, and loving individual embraces both their blessings and others, in stark contrast to the other who fiercely guards his balcony kingdom with a scarcity mentality.
Now of course, hummingbirds have a good reason to be feisty but as human beings, my idealist brain thinks we should have evolved beyond this selfishness. Under the same sky, walking the same earth, breathing the same air, suffering the same pains, crying the same tears, and bleeding the same blood, our connection is unquestionable.
Consider me unconventional, but I believe it's time for us to view one another with a sense of brotherhood rather than harboring animosity. Human suffering is our connection and life’s so fragile and short. We don’t need to be best friends or even like each other, but respect and tolerance goes a long way in this sandbox called LIFE. Besides, there’s enough space and sand to build our own castles without having to knock over someone else’s. I’m ready to build, are you?
Deborah Ledon is an award-winning entertainer, songwriter, teacher, speaker and healer. Her extraordinary journey has been filled with passion, faith, painful endings, madness, and forgiveness. This is her story of taking chances, breaking free of familial expectations—and those we set for ourselves—of breaking the mold and learning to take the high road, despite the monsters along the way. #energyworker #intuitivehealer #positivetransformation #lightworker #empath #intuitivecoach #reiki #inspiration #energy #peace #happiness #spiritualawakening #positivevibes #healingjourney #mindset #wisdom #faith #happy #recovery #hope #beauty #trauma #oraclereader #oraclecards #animalreiki #reikimaster #animalhealing #reikiforanimals #animals #pets #reikitherapy #animalcommunicator #animalcommunication #animalhealing