Like thousands of people around the world, I saw a hummingbird today. It wasn’t up close, it was across the parking lot from where I’d parked awaiting the arrival of students and teachers to start their day. It wasn’t different from hummingbirds I’d seen; it wasn’t a still life on nature’s beauty (in fact, the background would have been a gutter next to which flowers bloomed - the hummingbird’s source of breakfast). It wasn’t even a moment to be captured in memory.
But it was certainly a metaphor.
For weeks, my head has been spinning with virtual learning requests and registrations and password resets and so many other things. This morning, however, I was able to experience a moment. Today, I was the only person who saw that hummingbird. No other living soul was in that moment. There was no right or wrong, no decisions to be made, no emails to be sent or answered.
This morning it was just me and the hummingbird.
Of course, it wasn’t really a shared experience. It was more like parallel play. The hummingbird couldn’t care less that I peered at it through my windshield. It was hungry and needed food. It would have been just as likely to approach the flowers if the field nearby had been full of kids playing football or soccer. What made the moment impactful was me - or rather it’s impact on me.
I almost missed it, you know? I was parking to check my email and such before going in the building, but a flicker of movement stopped me and everything else faded away while I watched that hummingbird do what hummingbirds do.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to pause this morning and want to encourage you not to miss the hummingbird moments in your day. It’s not only an opportunity for a Zen moment; it’s an opportunity to let your mind take a deep breath. Don’t take such moments for granted.
Keep finding the moments of awesome in every day!
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