A Bird

I wonder what it’s like to be a bird. It seem like every trapped little girl’s fantasy—to fly over the suburb’s walls and fences caging her in. You know, she wants to spread her wings and all that jazz. But me personally, I actually never gave it much serious thought until I typed out that sentence.

Maybe it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Like in Ella Enchanted, when the fairy turns herself into a squirrel and realizes that a squirrel’s life is not actually like it’s portrayed in Disney movies. The squirrel gets hungry and cold, and carried off by eagles.

In this case, though, I guess it’s the EAGLE you would be. Ha. Still, I can’t imagine it’d be squirrel buffet all the time.

But really, a lot of freedom isn’t necessarily a good thing. There can definitely be too much. Some people like more freedom than others, and maybe I’m the other end of the spectrum that really likes structure. I can’t imagine living life without thinking, elementary school, middle school, high school, college, job. I like having a scheduled place to be every day. Deadlines and assignments, and projects with a finished product. It gives me purpose in a potentially chaotic world. Wondering what I’m going to do on a Saturday night is about as thrilling as it gets.

On that note, it is a bit disconcerting to realize how directionless I currently am. Ideally I would laugh in the face of Disarray and yell “I wouldn’t have it any other way! This is freedom, damn it, and I’m going to enjoy not knowing! I’m awesome and adventurous!” But inside is a secretly growing fear of the unknown.

Because what people fear most is the unknown. Life could be great, but we are hardwired to fear the worst.

So in conclusion, I think it’d be kind of cool to be a bird. It’ll probably help me get over my fear of heights.

But I'd probably get shot by a hunter anyway.