Achieving Serenity

The Comfortable Nest

Fearing change

Off a rural road in eastern Texas stood a tall white oak tree harboring a party of nesting blue jays. Among them was Mother Vicki who adored her little jays with a love no tweet could ever describe and truly would do anything in the world for any and all six of them. They were growing up so fast and though she knew the world was a cold one, she was happy that they were flying on their own and becoming self-reliant. That is- except for her youngest.

Billy was a bright blue jay but was diagnosed with aerophobia by the white oak tree's blue jay doctor. It was a common disease that all the species of birds were well aware of and solutions were always being attempted by committees of fowl to alleviate the epidemic. It seemed the greatest way to tolerate a bird fearing flight was to accept that the issue existed; love and nurture were the only ways to keep the aerophobic sane. Do not judge or criticize them as they have a disease which there is no known cure. These were the messages passed down to generations of birds, eventually becoming common wisdom. Treat the aerophobic with love and respect. Do not force them to do anything they don't want to do.

Mother Vicki's husband had passed on a few years back. It was difficult on the whole family but had seemed to be the most so for Billy. Despite his young age, he vividly remembers that fateful day when the chainsaws roared. Heck, every bird remembers that fateful day when the chainsaws roared.

The aerophobics. That was the word the birds used and they were a sacred group. Chatter like "where's Shelly and her chick?" would be answered with "oh you didn't hear? Little Frankie is an aerophobic." Then, "oh, bless his little heart. My prayers are with him and his family."

Billy hated being afraid of flying but couldn't deny his feelings. He had almost taken flight on a number of occasions but would be met with severe panic attacks causing him to quit every time. He was comfortable right where he was at- in the nest of Mother Vicki. They would spend all day and all night together while the other jays would be proactive, going to school and work. Deep down, Mother Vicki was ecstatic the day the blue jay doctor announced that one of her little chicks had aerophobia. She always feared the day her last jay would fly away but now got to rest knowing Billy would stay.

After the passing of their mother bird, aerophobics would spend the remainder of their lives tweeting out to others in an effort to request food. There are entire committees dedicated to supporting aerophobics so they have no problem getting the food and water they need, if even from strangers. The aerophobic most often dies in its own nest having lived a much shorter life than their expected span and having never taken flight. Every now and then an aerophobic bird will attempt flight on the verge of its natural death. They always inevitably hit the ground as a corpse, for they were too old and weak to manage the simple liftoff most birds had mastered early on in their youth.

In addition to his fear of flying, Billy had a vicious fear of other birds. Whenever friends or other town jays would stop by and talk to him, Billy always avoided eye contact and kept his answers short and tweet, waiting for the jay to glide away. To be frank, Billy was afraid of the unknown. Anything and everything he hadn't done before with special guidance and care through Mother Vicki was deathly horrific.

Billy was contemplating his life, thinking about what was going to happen to him after his Mother Vicki would pass on. He knew he would be able to call out for food and other assistance but also knew he would feel overly mortified asking so frequently. He had seen other aerophobics who were blatantly obnoxious, constantly yelping for food. He definitely didn't want to end up like them.

When Billy analyzed his situation, he figured he'd be too scared to tweet out for help after his mother was gone and end up dying of starvation. He had always thought one day he'd be able to just snap out of it and fly. However, he's finding that the community is so accepting of his ways that he could probably live out his entire life without ever flying. This realization was terrifying to Billy. He felt intense fear when he thought about it, but noticed something interesting. The fear he was experiencing when picturing never having tried- was GREATER than his fear of flying.

It was a normal day for Billy and Mother Vicki as she was polishing up the nest and tweeting out to neighbors. Billy looked over at his mother and then up at the sky. He closed his eyes, visualized himself flying and then stepped out of the nest. Billy successfully took flight for the first time.