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| Maria Tran at Kings Cross and giving the 'birdie' |
At the beginning of the year of 2019, I found a swallow fledging at Kings Cross, Sydney on my way to a “Soul Power Workshop” run by Diane Bellchambers. The year started in a very metaphysical way and the introduction of a baby swallow bird was just another addition.
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| Maria Tran, Diane Bellchambers, Therese Chen & Nancy Trieu |
So how I came across this little birdie
was when I crossed the street and found this little one on the ground,
motionless. I picked it up and it animatedly started to fly out onto the busy
street and, ironically hit the side door of the car that reads “no birds”. I
quickly ran towards it picked it up and once again, it struggled to fly off and
hit a brick wall.
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| Chilled birdie |
Annoyed, I casually walked up to it and
spoke in English something along the lines of “You are either going to stay
here by yourself or come with me, your choice and I don’t have time for this”.
It stopped moving and eyeballed me straight in the face. I slowly picked it up
and placed it on my arm and walked for another 30 minutes to my destination.
Birdie showed no signs of protest and sat quietly.
For the next 8 hours, she actually sat
in class with me. Every night and then, she’d chirped, but she was quietly
sitting in my colleague Nancy Trieu’s lunchbox. During lunch, I walked to a
nearby park to let her go, but she refused so I had no choice but to take in.
In Australia, swallows are wild, and
they can’t be domesticated. Like most wild birds, they will try to get away
from you or look for food. Not this one. She (I’ll call her that, but I wouldn’t
really know) was very different. She had very “human” features. She was
patient, observant and at times very cheeky and talkative. She lived pass the
48 hours marked and stayed with us for another 3 weeks.
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| "Phoebe" the birdie meets "Happy" the dog |
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| She's sleeping on the chopstick |
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| Hiding |
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| Her new home |
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| Just hanging |
In the following three weeks, she ventured with us to our production company in Fairfield, watching us edit, eating loads of meal worms, singing and playing peakaboo with us. She brought myself and my team members great joy and she represented many attributes that we as humans strive for; resilience and overcoming adversity.
Sadly, she passed away on the 3 week
mark. After a few days of a strange heat wave that came through Sydney,
followed by wet cold weathers, “Phoebe” passed away.
The following morning, myself and the
Phoenix Eye girls decided to give her back to the earth, and so we conducted a
funeral ceremony at the 162 year old Oak tree in Carramar.
I gave the girls individual tasks from
digging the hole, lighting the incense and preparing Phoebe’s body with oils,
stones and flowers to help her make the transition into the after life.
We then watched the sunrise in
meditation as well as reflecting on the beauty of what life brings.
5 Things you learn when face with death:
1. Death Is Inevitable
It will
happen to all of us and it doesn’t discriminate between bad or good. Losing
something you love is tough and regardless of how much joy was experienced
prior, death can still strike unexpectedly.
2. Time Is Extremely Limited
Time
always goes forward and never backwards and hence, we should really see the
time we have as a gift and live our lives at it’s fullest and most inspired. To
many people live in fear and in pain or find ways to “kill time” as if they are
immortal. The truth is, you will die one day. Get that into your head and start
embracing life.
3. Memories
When
something passes away, the only thing that you have is memories. Hence, it is a
reminder for everyone to live a life full of kindness and as much positive
impact. Be the change you want to be in this world and give as much as you can.
4. Health is Wealth
Do not
forgo health for wealth. Chasing all the money in the world and a material
lifestyle and trading in your health is setting yourself up for major regret
when your health deteriorates. All the riches in the world cannot fix your
health if it is going on a downward spiral. So do your best to consistently eat
healthier, exercise, meditate, enjoy nature and spend time making memories with
those you love most.
5. Do What You Can, When You Can
Live a
full life. Forgo the what-ifs, should’ve, could’ve, or would’ve done moments. Explore
and travel in the physical as well as the metaphysical world. Connect deeply
with family members and friends. Be passionate about your life and do as much
as possible to keep on growing.
