Fly Free

by Pamela Ziemann

There was a fluttering sound coming from inside my house. As I came in from the deck I noticed a small brown bird with stripes and spots trying valiantly to fly out the closed window of the upper loft area. I cringed every time I heard the thumping noise as he hurled himself against the closed windowpane.

The front door and the sliding glass door to the deck were both open, and I quickly removed all the screens from the windows upstairs. Yet, this bird continued to struggle, trying to get out through the fixed window. It was hard to watch, especially since there were so many open windows that he could just fly right through without any struggle.

My neighbor walked by and noticed what was happening. He suggested I throw a towel over the bird and drag him out. Yes, this was an option, but it seemed so traumatic. The trembling little bird was already suffering so much. Why add more pain and confusion? It reminded me of some of the confrontational therapies I’d heard about.

Looking for a more compassionate way, I went upstairs and watched him from behind a cracked door. I tried my newly acquired skill of bird calling. Short, rhythmic whistles. Surprisingly, after five or ten minutes he looked around and flew to another window. Unfortunately he flew into the fixed windowpane instead of the the one that was open. Thud! Again, something he couldn’t see was holding him back.

Have you ever watched someone struggle with a situation for a long, long time? Trying so hard without getting any results.

As I watched this small creature I was reminded of myself at times when I was determined to get past a problem. My idea of what to do seemed so clear. All he wanted to do was get past what was blocking him. He could see the other birds flying freely, pecking at the fruit of a nearby apple tree and enjoying the cool breeze. Yet here he was, trapped in a stifling place, wanting so desperately to be free. Like many of us, our situation may not make sense, and it doesn’t seem fair. The bird knew what he wanted. He was trying as hard as he could; yet something that he couldn’t see was holding him back. In Avatar this is what we call a transparent belief.

A transparent belief is something one operates through without realizing it’s there. A belief or opinion that was accepted as true in the past and is now so familiar that we don’t even see it. All we see is the effect it has on our lives and wonder why things don’t change. Just like the fixed windowpane, which was causing the suffering for the bird, our fixed transparent beliefs cause us suffering. When we open to new possibilities we regain freedom.

One of the things that makes transparent beliefs invisible is that we often want to prove ourselves right. We decide, “This is just the way it is,” and the suffering continues.

Discovering what is holding us back takes some exploration and vulnerability. If you’re in a situation that you can’t seem to get past, maybe there’s an easier way out. The Transparent belief exercise in ReSurfacing, allows a person (or in this case, a bird) to step back far enough to understand what’s really getting in the way.

I smiled as I watched the bird try another route and soar off that day. There’s something about watching a bird sail through the open sky. And there’s something about people getting past their suffering and doing what they really want to do. What freedom! With the tools of Avatar, even the sky is no limit.

Pamela Ziemann, Seattle, WA

 

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