The Crow

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“And the crow makes wing to the rooky wood…” ~ William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

Evening is overtaking the day.

I sit on a comfortable chair out on my deck, enjoying the last rays of sunlight as they ebb away over the mountains beyond the lake.

The last sounds of park patrons diminish, along with the calls of night birds.

All is becoming steadily quiet. All is calm.

I find myself reflecting on my drive home from work this afternoon, passing through the farmishly-rural neighborhoods around which I work. As I drove, I couldn’t help but notice two crows circling overhead.

They were barely flapping their wings as they soared gracefully over the landscape below them.

I’d never really visualized crows as being the most striking of birds; I’d always considered them being downright unsightly.

I’d never want to be a crow...

A hawk is what I’d envision myself returning to existence as—that is if I subscribed to the belief in reincarnation—but by no means a crow.

As I gazed at these two birds gliding over the air currents, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

These were crows

They were not the most beautiful or majestic of birds.

They were not the most striking

But they could fly

No matter what they looked like on the outside, they had within them the capacity to take to the air, and leave the earth far below them; they enjoyed the glories their wings afforded them, just as any other bird

It was at this moment that I felt envious of these crows.

As I gazed at them, I began to wonder…how often did I imagine myself as a crow? How often did I see myself as a being of little splendor; a person with so little to offer the world around me?

Yet, we have so much potential within us…more than we are aware of.

For some reason, we often only ‘see’ ourselves as how we believe others view us…how we are perceived. This is simply not the case. We have unlimited, untapped promise. We simply need to spread our wings and take it.

As I drove home, the crows were on my mind the entire way.

Oh, to be a crow.