Monday, April 25, 2011

When the wings are too heavy the bird can't fly.
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13 comments:

  1. Yun YiApril 25, 2011 at 7:02 AM

    beautiful!!!

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  2. AnonymousApril 25, 2011 at 7:11 AM

    trim the feathers...

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  3. JaneneMurphyApril 25, 2011 at 11:39 AM

    Ooh. I like this one, NP. Very poetic, but true.

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  4. SprigBlossomsApril 25, 2011 at 11:50 AM

    Beautifully expressed, as always : ) I can see the bird in free flight....

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  5. Cat Wisdom 101April 25, 2011 at 6:32 PM

    Sounds very Zen to me. Plus, if the bird can't fly they go extinct like dodos ;-)

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  6. PaulApril 25, 2011 at 8:55 PM

    I thought it should be: if a bird is too heavy (i.e. overweight), it can't fly. Otherwise a big bird with heavy (meaning: large and strong) wings can only fly higher and farther. It reminds me of Zhuangzi praising the freedom and vision of the big bird, Da-Peng. Lesson learned: don't get (too) over-weight!

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  7. PBScottApril 26, 2011 at 8:05 AM

    My dad used to say you could measure a man's happyness by how big his keychain was.

    The more keys he had the more things he had to worry about.

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  8. MeredithApril 26, 2011 at 10:12 AM

    "Moderation in all things, including moderation."

    This reminds of your saying NP, thanks, I needed the reminder.

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  9. UnknownApril 26, 2011 at 12:25 PM

    Amen. Living simply is liberating.

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  10. PhotoDictionApril 26, 2011 at 3:51 PM

    We often do carry too many burdens with us - both material and otherwise. It is easy to weigh down our wings, sacrifice our ability to fly. A wonderful aphorism, np!

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  11. timethiefApril 26, 2011 at 6:12 PM

    I like this aphorism a lot. This is what it brings to mind.

    What weighs us down and prevents us from flying can attachment to the past. Thinking we can change what happened yesterday by reliving it today is a guilt burden that grounds us.

    What weighs us down can be tied to other people's expectations, for as until we learn to determine our own self worth we don't grow flight feathers.

    Once we can jettison baggage and chart our own course to the life we want to live we are on the flyway. And when we are ready to travel light we are ready for free flight.

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  12. AdminApril 30, 2011 at 5:13 AM

    Dear Marty,

    I loved it.

    Similarly looking at life with too many filters impairs our ability to see the reality.

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  13. JackrabbitMay 8, 2011 at 8:45 PM

    I LOVE this one! (sorry for shouting.)

    As a grad student, here's my take: if you spend all your time and energy getting the best wings possible to fly into the clouds, the wings become your baggage, and your preparation for freedom becomes the very thing that grounds you.

    For me, all those feathers in my academic cap right now are just dead weight. I'd really like to trim them off and fly unencumbered by disembodied knowledge and classist assumptions about intelligence for a change.

    In short: you don't need a PhD to experience freedom, in your career, your mind, your self-actualization or anything else. Since you've already got the God-given wings, just... fly, man. Keep your freedom.

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