After I dreamed about an inherited trapped emotion of helplessness, I continued to wrestle with the concept of it. I decided to allow it to sit inside me to discover a deeper meaning. During this time a family of Robins was making a nest in a tree right outside my kitchen windows. I thoroughly enjoyed observing the female Robin build her nest while the male Robin watched over her, waiting to contribute.
At that time, I was leery about having a nest in a tree I wanted to cut down this spring. And the failed attempt the Robins experienced two years ago had me worried. But the female Robin found a nice safe spot in the tree and began building. Weeks later the Robins successfully hatched three offspring and took turns protecting and feeding. The young were big enough that mommy Robin could not sleep with them anymore.
Then two days ago, a Crow started hanging around in the yard and that made the Robins unhappy. They chirped loudly and swooped at the Crow whenever they come near the tree. I became triggered once again by the feeling of helplessness for the young birds. Being moved by all their efforts, I decided to help by scaring away a Crow whenever I saw one.
Empty Nest
The next morning the parent Robins are gone, the nest is empty but intact. I do not if the young Robins flew the nest or were eaten by a predator. After doing my research, I found out that many predators eat eggs and young birds. Also that Robins make many nests just for this reason and it is common and natural for Robins to lose their offspring.
Without the development of emotions, birds can lay eggs, lose them and move on. But humans linger on to their loss and get crippled by it. I felt helpless for them and that impacted me alongside their loss. The Robins most likely moved on to a new nest and are probably genetically incapable of feeling the long-term loss. Rightfully so too, having to live in the animal kingdom and its rules.
Helplessness And Me
Then I started to think about helplessness; how I felt helpless for them and I saw what I thought was being helpless. But I was wrong. They are not helpless. They did everything in their power to warn off the predator and protect their offspring. I miss interpreted their actions as being helpless. This had me thinking about all the other times I saw helplessness and how I might have misperceived the situation.
Turns out I did and do most of the time. Then deciding to only offer help if I see helplessness. In the past, I automatically step into action when I saw helplessness. Even if the person was helping themselves. I seem to pass over the person’s perception of the situation and do it my way. Through watching the Robins, I learned about how I deal with helplessness and changed my core belief around it.
I do feel I have a healthier view of helplessness and how best to proceed when I see it.
Live Joy, Renee