Humming along

On Wednesday I decided to do something that was on my mind for awhile. I decided to research why I am drawn to hummingbirds. I have a feeder, I cut a picture out of a magazine when I did my vision board and I will stop in my tracks (even in mid sentence with a friend) to watch one when it comes by. Since about April I've thought to see if they represent some quality in me that 'resonates'. This week I had one of my 'coincidence' moments regarding hummingbirds and it came in a series of 3 events.

1. Wednesday I finally found a moment to poke around on the Internet to find some 'facts'. I found some facts, but none of them gave me that 'aha' feeling.


2. That same day, I took a moment to read my Martha Beck homework and guess what was pictured on one of the pages....a hummingbird.


3. I found a website for publishing children's books for a friend of mine and passed it along. I decided to poke around on the site myself...well...there is a resources section and there is a book called "Stand Still Like the Hummingbird" by Henry Miller.

So on that day that I deliberately decided to look up hummingbird information....I had 2 other unrelated and unintentional encounters with hummingbirds in a matter of about 3 hours. Yowza. Two things that I have to report now.

1. I bought the book by Henry Miller and it is a series of essays that TOTALLY speak my language about the state of humanity and Americans specifically.


2. Martha Beck's writings (that included the picture of the hummingbird) relayed a philosophical metaphor. There is the concept of the "Buddha Bird Push-Off" - and I quote directly..."According to legend, the Buddha used to illustrate his teaching method by holding a small bird in his hand. To take off and fly, a bird has to push off with its legs. The Buddha would keep the bird from flying away by dropping his hand as the bird pushed off, so that the bird didn't have enough resistance to jump. To help clients "fly", you [life coach] need to give them a solid opinion, then let them push away from it."

So, maybe these two sources will give me the "meaning of the metaphor" for me. In essence, I am "becoming" the solid surface for the tiny birds (my clients one day) to begin to fly into their "right life". Interesting; exciting; awesome....off to read more....and have you ever seen a hummingbird stand still?