Mental health

What It’s Like to Be Trapped in Your Own Mind

Instead of flying, we watch time and days fly by

I grew up in Ghana and there was always some type of animal in my home. My family loves animals and at one point we had eight dogs, four cats, and five tortoises. We’ve had rabbits, hamsters, turkeys, guinea fowls, hens, and birds. Our house was a mini zoo and there was plenty of open space for them to roam free except for the birds. The birds were always in cages.

When my brother learned that my daughter and I were returning home, he got my daughter a puppy. There were also two birds in a cage. My daughter was so into the puppy that she paid the birds no mind. I suggested we let the birds go.

Freedom means everything to me, so I like to extend it to other living things. I don’t like the idea of any animal in a cage because I believe certain humans reincarnate as animals. If I ever reincarnated as an animal, I know it'll be a large bird who soars like an eagle!

I don’t want to risk putting some spirit animal in a cage. So I opened the cages of the birds, hoping they’d quickly fly away, but to my surprise, the birds got out of their cages and were walking around instead of flying. A couple of minutes passed and the two birds are still on the ground pecking at the food on the ground. Hours later and the birds were cooped behind a plant sleeping!

All we need to do is remember who we are and what we came here to do.

I was shocked to see this. They had their wings and their freedom, so why weren't they flying away? They forgot they can fly. They were kept in a cage so long they forgot what they came here to do — to fly! They were free to go wherever they wanted, but in their minds, they were still in a cage.

The birds didn’t even attempt to spread their wings and fly. They walked and behaved as if they were mere chickens. They forgot how magnificent they are.

Instead of flying, we watch time and days fly by.

Looking at the two birds walk around instead of flying had me thinking about life. Like the birds, many of us find ourselves trapped in our own minds with no idea how to navigate our way out. We feel trapped even when the gates are wide open. And the sad thing is that it’s all in our heads.

In our heads, our situation seems too big that we give up trying to find our way out. We settle for a life trapped in a cage/mind when all we need to do is remember who we are, spread our wings and fly like the powerful beings we are.

All we need to do is remember who we are and what we came here to do.