It’s strange how once we start the healing process, the most unexpected and beautiful connections can be made. I have a cherry tree that blooms outside my window and aside from the breathtaking assembly of blossoms in the spring, there are little brown birds that live in that tree. When I started learning how to heal from trauma, the little birds kept perching by my slightly open window. I love these birds and enjoyed seeing them every time I would walk in my room.

One day, my son wanted to fall asleep in my bed. As I was tucking him in, he noticed that one of the birds had made it into my room and was sitting happily on one of the decorative branches by my bed! It was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. My son on the other hand, yelled which sent the little bird flying in a mad panic around my room. She kept crashing into my large window and falling. My son and I stepped into the hallway to let the bird calm down a little while I thought of a plan.

I thought of raw sunflower seeds and snuck back into my room to make a trail of sunflower seeds to the window opening. The little bird just shuddered and whimpered against the window. Then I remembered what I feel like in my stressful moments. Who was I kidding?! The last thing on this bird’s mind would be to feast on seeds! I realized that I would have to help this bird another way.

I spoke to it softly and told it that it would need to trust me. I told her that there was no way it would figure out how to get out of my room unless to trust me. Slowly I approached the little bird. I gently put my finger against her chest and… she hopped on! Very slowly, I started to walk but she went wild again, flying all over my room and crashing into my window. I tried again. Again, she hopped on my finger but this time she stayed on as I walked to the open crack in my window (it doesn’t open wide). The sweet little bird was shivering with fright but stayed on my finger. Once my hand was through the crack, I lifted my finger in the air and the bird flew off.

There was something so profoundly beautiful in that moment for me. I felt so humbled that the little bird chose to trust me and that I was able to communicate with it. Suddenly my own journey of learning to cope with adrenaline and stress, gave me the opportunity and authority to connect with and help one of my favourite little creatures on this earth: the little brown bird. I feel so much friendship from these little ones.

The best part about this, is that as just as I finished writing this story, two years later (while in self-isolation during the 2020 Covid-19 outbreak): look who showed up in my room again! This time I was able to gently guide them back out of my window (which was hardly open) but the fact that these little birds showed up in my room during a time when I wasn’t able to have any visitors was the most welcome visit from friends that I could’ve ever asked for.