In my dream, the birds landed while I was sleeping. I did not know they were there. But something woke me. Maybe the soft rustling of their wings. Maybe little cooing sounds. Or maybe just the presence of their lives bringing energy to the air around me. 

“There is life beyond life, all around you, all the time,” said the birds. “There is more life than you know. There are layers of life, within and without.”

I opened my eyes.

“There is life in your sorrow,” they whispered. “There is life in your joy. There is life in your confusion, your grief, your fear. Even in your dullness and apathy, even in your moments of disconnectedness, there is life.”

My tears rose hot and soft – release, relief, homecoming – as the birds continued their wordsong. 

“There is life because you are the seed at the center of your experience. If you open through it and into it, you will stretch and expand into even more aliveness.”

Their voices dropped, low and true, the way a wise being speaks when she arrives at the heart of the matter. “Lift yourself into all this life, as we do when we fly. Come with us and fly.”