Dreams of Birds

Last night I had a dream about a small, brown bird.

It was chirping and chasing me, almost as if mocking me.  I then reached out and it gripped it's claw feet around my fingers so tightly it hurt and felt as if it was going to break the skin.

I shook the bird off and tried not to kill it as I struggled against the grip.  

The bird then flipped over and died.

I was frightened by the sudden mortality of this strange and aggressive bird, but as suddenly as it died, it flipped back over on it's legs and began the mock and chirp once again.

According to dream analysis, seeing a bird in your dreams represents your aspirations and goals in life.  To see one die signifies an inward struggle you are having with a particular goal of yours.

I am humbled by the awe inspiring workings of my subconscious as I sleep.  For in this, I realize the fragility and resiliency of dreams and goals.  

We are given beginners luck when we finally find our purpose in life; this beginners luck draws us in and gives us confidence.  But it is a well known lesson in life that things that are worth the fight don't come easily.  So, we are meant to struggle and to fight.  In teaching heroes myths I found myself explaining that it is in the ate (or temporary madness) that we really see a heroes strength.  What draws us to our heroes is their ability to overcome this mental feat and pull themselves back towards their arete.  

At first I feared my sleeping dream meant my waking dream was reaching it's death.  

What I really think it means is that I must remember how pliable and transformative our goals and aspirations are.  It wouldn't be worth it if there was no fight.  And just as the bird can easily come back to life, so can a dream come back to life and recover from a bump in the road.

No, I will not be "great" tomorrow, and maybe never.  But I know my personal calling is mocking me with chirps and encouragement; it is pulling at my fingers so tightly it hurts.  And we must not forget that dreams can and will always come back to life--we just need to trust the process and have faith in ourselves and in the chirping.