The Hummingbird Life



Most people would look back at my work history and feel as though I'm a directionless wanderer. I've worked in agriculture, retail, customer service, sales, entertainment, advertising, childcare, human resources, administration, and even a 3-week stint in a restaurant. It's all so varied and wild and disjointed. Or is it?

Have you ever watched Elizabeth Gilbert's Super Soul Session on the flight of the hummingbird? If you haven't, it's a valuable 28 minute diatribe for anyone who as ever felt confused about where they belong. Jack or Jill of all trades? Hobby collector? Restless? Watch it. 


It was after watching that speech that I began to identify with Hummingbirds. I started calling them my spirit animal. I bought a paint by number of a hummingbird and worked on it while listening to inspiring podcasts. I started looking for and noticing hummingbirds everywhere I went. That's me! Heart and soul. Endlessly seeking and searching and collecting. That's me.

She describes how some people do all of these random things...whether they be jobs, or hobbies, or projects...and it may seem pointless, or like a waste of time...but really, it's just the long and curious road to getting where they're meant to be. What if all of those things are really just wonderfully orchestrated pit stops along a beautiful, twisting, creative path? It sometimes gets tiring, but I'd pick that road over the straight and narrow any day of the week.

Also? It's kind of magical when you see the pieces of the puzzle come together.

It's maybe also a little comical to see how full circle it all is. How an interest or idea can spark one little action, that leads to the next, that leads to the next, and after this long and beautiful road, you end up where you began. Expanded, bigger, better - but back at the original feeling.

Life as a hummingbird is beautiful. It's exhausting (what, with all of those wing flaps per second), but it's an intense study of the beauty of the world, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

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