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A story is told about an eagle’s egg that fell out of its nest and onto the ground. As luck would have it, a farmer found it and took it to his broody hen. He placed it with the rest of her eggs and forgot about it. A little while later, the farmer sold his farm (or something along those lines) to another farmer; house, animals, manure and all. Eventually, mother hen’s eggs hatched and out came 7, no, 6 adorable yellow chicks and it. It (the seventh) was odd-looking but mother hen nurtured and protected them all the same. Afterall, they we’re all her babies. And like all mother hen’s do, she taught her chicks to hide whenever her cousin the eagle flew by so she wouldn’t snatch them up for her supper.
One time, number 7 saw an eagle gliding in the air and he was fascinated and wondered how she got up there. He wished he could spread his wings and fly but his mother had already told them a hundred times over that chickens couldn’t fly. Plus he had seen one of his sisters try to fly but she didn’t get too far or too high before crashing back down. Mother was right, flying wasn’t for them so why bother trying? And yet something inside him didn’t feel quite right…
Seven didn’t fit in. He felt odd among the other chicks they were all yellow and he was brown. While they were small and cute, he was bigger and clumsier and the new farmer’s children never scooped him up in their arms or played with him.
One day a vet came to see the other animals on the farm and noticed the odd-looking chick.
“Is that a chicken?” he asked the farmer.
“Yes, just slightly darker,” the farmer responded.
“He looks different. Are you sure he’s not an eagle?”
The farmer laughed and said, “Of course not! He’ll be a great big rooster when he grows up.”
The vet asked if he could look closer at the chick and test his hypothesis and the farmer welcomed the suggestion.
He scooped up the eaglet in his hands and took him to a slightly high place and let him go. Naturally, 7 fell straight to the ground. The vet scooped him up again and took him even higher. 7 squirmed in his hands afraid of the fall before the vet released him once more.
This time, 7 felt the air rushing past him and he instinctively spread his wings, flapping them back and forth. And just like that, he was flying! He looked up and saw other birds higher than him and rather than land he flew up and soared higher and higher never looking back down even once.
While this story may have several plot holes, it serves to illustrate the power of our environment in holding us back.
The framework of poeticliberty is biblical and this isn’t said to be poetic or obtuse it is simply centered on the fact that, “In the beginning God created.” Furthermore, He created man in His image and likeness and invites us to partner, create, and co-labor with him. And not in a mediocre way but with that God-like excellence that we are wired with.
Sometimes on our life’s journeys, we may be separated from our pack, encounter trauma, lose our sense of purpose amongst a myriad of other hurdles that may blur our vision as to what our true identity is like the eaglet. Sure, he was born into curious circumstances, but he managed to come out and fly because he was built for the skies. There is also a version of the above tale that ends with 7 remaining among the chickens admiring eagles but never taking flight. But we must remember that we have each been called to “fly” into our life purpose. Don’t brood with the chickens when you can soar with the eagles.
I envision poeticliberty as a safe space for creatives and multi-hyphenates alike to come learn, unlearn, dissect and explore the inner workings of their creative identity. I am on the same journey of embracing my “eagle” identity after playing small for years and I want to invite you to come along so we can soar together.
There is a space for liberty here.
Karibu
