The Cage

Imagine a bird in a cage
It’s been there so long it mistakes the bars for the horizon

The cage is predictable, familiar even
It’s fed, it’s interacted with, but it never flies

Most of us live like that bird
We inherit cages disguised as belief systems
Raised to accept, obey, repeat and we call that truth

We wait for signs, for some external force to name us, to hand us permission, to tell us who we ‘should/shouldn’t’ be and the bird is taught that beyond the cage lies danger, that the unknown will disappoint, that safety even when it is confinement is better than freedom

The instant you stop asking if you are ready:
If you are brave, intelligent, kind, or selfless enough and you awaken to the fact that you are what you choose, then the moment you decide it, flight begins

Because a bird doesn’t discover its wings by sitting still

It learns by breaking out, by testing the air, by risking the fall and refusing the script

But freedom begins with free thought
With questioning everything handed to you, especially the beliefs that feel safest

Now imagine that same bird, the same cage
But this time the door isn’t locked. In fact, it’s slightly ajar
(…) It always has been

Today, I am less bound than yesterday
Today, I am a little more free
A little more myself