I’m sitting on this Sunday after exercising and doing my Yoga and all I can hear is the sounds of my hummingbird’s attacking each other. They are posed for fight, tails spread. Their sounds of hitting each other while their wings rapidly flutter is a constant whir in my consciousness. They are relentless. I’m just relaxing and trying to read, but I cannot because I’m endlessly fascinated by their behavior. They never let up. They are little gangs of brutality and beauty.
I have hummingbirds year round. The many species I have interact and accept each other as best they can. I’m an impartial observer. That is why I find them so interesting. Sometimes they drink from my feeders without much fighting, but today that is not the case. They all are militant like fighter jets bombing the enemy. My presence so near is not even acknowledged. They are going for the feeders like it is their last meal.
As I am distracted by them, I have a lot of thoughts running through my brain. They actually remind me of how people are responding to this presidential campaign going on now in the United States. They are ready to kill for the nectar, just as people are ready to give up friends and family for their beliefs about this election.
Maybe I have mellowed in my life since I’ve moved to Paradise, but one thing I have learned is you are not going to change anyone to your way of thinking. Just like my hummers. They are not going to stop fighting for their time at the feeders, taking that precious sip of nectar. Let it go. Vote your choice and be done with it. Hopefully, the world will survive just like my very aggressive hummingbirds and we will find something else to be scandalized about.
Me, well I’m aggrieved that there is no true fairness in this world. Some people win and some people lose. I lost in my quest to get the murderer of my daughter in jail. It breaks my heart, and there are many just like me who have not seen justice. We go on. Just like those hummingbirds who fight every single day for the chance to drink the nectar. Let your life become about good things, peaceful things, happiness. Stop trying to make everyone see it your way. It’s not important. What is important is being a good human.
Sometimes my hummingbirds are peaceful with each other, they sit nicely while they all feed together. Let us try to be that way with our lives. They often sit peacefully together drinking nectar and flying off to rest on a branch. My home is a place of peace where the hummingbirds entertain and amuse all who visit. I’m certain they are not worried about the other species, sizes, sex , or colors of those they battle with to get the feeders to themselves. Maybe, just maybe, us humans should look to nature more often. The fighting seems to be a bit more fair. No prejudice involved, just wanting to have a place to feed. That is why I have so many feeders: I give them all an even chance. What they do with that chance is a decision they make. What happens in this world is kind of like the hummingbirds, it is all out of our control even when we want so much to have the control. Just do your part and vote. Then let it go. Don’t lose friends over this. It is not worth it.
I’ve come to the conclusion we all think differently. We have brains that look at the exact same message and process it in completely different ways. If we only associate with those who think exactly like us, what do we learn? I’m all for freedom of speech, but I remember my mother and father always saying to me “politics and religion are not to be discussed with others ” and I have to agree. It is just not worth it. When I was younger I didn’t know what any of my friends believed. Because we were just having fun and liked each other for the people we were.
I’m certain we can choose to do this again. With social media it is difficult: but you can stop the hate by posting good things, happy things on the Internet. If you are offended bite your tongue, let it go. Let peace become your way of life, not hate. Hate never wins, even when you are seeing so much of it. Just let it go. Let peace be with you.
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Hummings from Paradise 