Mockingbird

7/29/24

The mockingbird doesn't mock. She imitates to create and connect.

Her presence can be alarming or disarming depending on the intentions of those whom she mimics. She is a mirror, a call to reflection and a chameleon for good.

Mockingbird can certainly be territorial if met with the need, but her heart is to weave community. She brings about a witness to the self. Her voice will be heard, because her mission is authenticity, but her identifying feature is Innocence.

She has been visiting me many times lately. Too many to count. Just as I finally settled on that I am an Enneagram 9 (a bit of a chameleon), and going through many changes. It's easy to lose confidence in yourself in change. To assume the worst about all of your traits on a bad day when all that you know is shifting beneath you. When everything is shifting externally and internally, what is your self-talk?

Mockingbird reminds me to witness myself and that my tendency to merge and reflect to others comes from a place of purpose. It's hardwired. How others respond is their choice, and reflects more about their state than about mine, when I am neutral.

I also find her message to be very relevant for our times, particularly in the last week. How many times have I read the words "mocking" in the news?

I've never paid much attention to mockingbirds. I thought they were sort of a run-of-the-mill bird. I didn't recall any cultural symbolism either. But apparently these beliefs are deeply held. "To kill a mockingbird," has been widely known as a soul crime.

Interestingly, embracing my own innocence and remaining innocent of judgment, anger and lashing out as well is highly dependent on my ability to self-reflect and be my own loving, intentional inner witness. This is the work I have to do for mockingbird to seem like a friendly visitor to me. A welcome mirror. It just so happens that I also have mockingbird energy and it's convenient that I learn from my own medicine.

Mockingbird helps us unlock our deepest purpose by reflecting back to us who we really are. Thank you, Mockingbird.

The picture is a quick shot that I took over a week ago of a door handle at a cafe in Asheville. That tail looks an awful lot like a mockingbird, though I had not begun to consciously see them yet at that time. I opened the door and stepped in.

When I was scrolling through my feed to find a picture of any of the live mockingbirds who have visited me since, I discovered this one by accident. Interesting that she's perched on the door handle itself. ✨🍃

I also think of the unbelievably evil killing of Sonya Massey who clearly reflected back to her killer exactly what he was embodying. He saw himself and instead tried to extinguish that truth. Innocence cannot die. May her light be a beacon.