LIFE as a FEATHER floating in the Air

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A wind blows, the feather rises above the ground...

Umesh is fascinated by the feather floating in the air, buffeted by the wind and draws lessons on life's highs and lows. He reminds us that just as the feather picks itself up with every breeze and continues on its journey, we, too, shouldn't be bogged down by temporary setbacks in life.

Extend your arms, feel your stretch,
Wake up this beautiful morning,
For it's yours to be heard,
To be seen. Laugh heartily.
Whistle like the wind, And
Let the bird hear you sing.

A sentence read: "We are all trying to blow this feather in the wind." I have always been amazed by the feather - soft, white and bright. That single feather, swaying with vigor and life, against a bright, light blue sky. Every position it takes is like a moment in life, poised. Its next position, left to the wind to decide.

When that feather took off, above the ground, it closed its eyes and wished, "let me fly as long as I can. Let me not touch the earth beneath me." It lifts and floats, and smiles. It is high above now, happy and gay. The winds take it to far away places, colors, fragrances, that it never ever saw, felt, and experienced until this moment in time. Too happy to know what is happening and enjoying the ride, yet, wishing every moment that it never ever saw the earth again.

It floats, and floats, in poise, smiling every moment. There's a gush and with it a new stance, a new stance in its life; sometimes a little higher, sometimes a little lower.

There was this one time, swaying from side to side as it made its descent with the ground getting closer and grass getting greener and spreading further. Is this the end of glory? Not yet, it feels, not yet. With a little help from the lingering turbulent air, and with the recent skill of flight, it tilts a wing, to lift once again, to soar straight up, and reaches for the cloud. It thought to itself "don't be scared of the ground, there's always a wind to pick you up again, even if you touch the ground." Live life without fear. Don't worry about what tomorrow is going to throw at you. For you don't know from which direction the wind is going to blow.

The wind descends, the feather lowers. This time it is unafraid to land, on the beautiful brown earth below. The crisp surface awaits its arrival. It touches the ground, brushes against the mud, briefly bouncing off into the air again. Touching down again and rolling a few times.

I love that motion picture, Forrest Gump. I don't know how many times I have seen it. But I do know that I am always lost in thought as that feather rises in the first scene of that movie, swaying like life, moment to moment, looking at beauty, until it's brought back to ground to the same spot, fittingly in the last scene of the movie. And I think, "Life's like that." --Umesh

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