Life

I Wish I Were a Bird

The soul longs to free itself from the bonds of flesh

I was in the park near my home, just sitting and watching birds fly freely across the sky. That was so fascinating. Part of me says I hate our life, which is full of everyday problems and duties. That moment, I wished for something I am confident you wished for someday, and I said: “I wish I was a bird,” “I wish I had wings.” I would have fled away from this prison of monotonous routine to those heights that are beyond imagination.

Being a bird, all the problems of life are gone. There are no deadlines at work to worry about, no bills to pay, or rules to follow. Your wings are your life. Everything is open to you; just choose the tree you like and build your nest. That’s it.

All these within one flap of my wings would be left far behind as I take off into the skies, away from any responsibility that takes me more effort in order to meet modern life demands. Not even traffic jams can prevent me from making such a trip. It is the only time when true freedom will reign again.

Though some may say it is childish fantasy, great philosophers have thought over desire to escape our human confines — “the soul longs to free itself from the bonds of flesh” (Plato in Phaedo). Is it possible that my longing resonates with the soul’s original craving for freedom from material bonds? Seeing life from above as a bird does without any earthly hindrances is experiencing an unknown-to-man kind freedom.

Of course, romanticizing fantasies like these ignore the difficult realities of bird life themselves. They know not comfort or community. Each day means fighting for survival. Nonetheless, even so, their attitude remains one of concern-free simplicity, living purely in the present moment without concern about what will happen tomorrow.

The inability to live fully today while always worrying about the past and future could be named as humanity’s greatest shortcoming, among which others are just distractions. Perhaps if I only had wings that bear me above such cares, but even if it were just one hour.

However, I am still drawn to Earth by gravity as birds continue to flutter around. In the end, we are the only creatures on this earth with this high level of cognition, consciousness, and intelligence.

Yes, Watching birds skillfully glide through the air is fascinating to me, but it also reminds me that true liberty and freedom start on the inside. Even though my wings are fictitious, I can still choose to release life burdens, if only in my mind, and sense the lightness that birds feel during each upstroke.

Author’s Note

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