Eagle lifting

Thoughts sifting

Foot connecting

One after the other

Mind drifting

Hearing sentences

Running through my head

What he said

She said

Barbs that stick like burrs

As consciousness whirls

Memories dredging

What does this mean?

What did that?

Nothing particularly matters

Once you understand

It’s all just words

Habits

People’s verbal vomits

Things they say

That you don’t have to hold onto

Nobody is bad

Nobody good

Judgement is a hook

That winds us tighter

A dog attached by a chain to pole

Ends up pinned

As he goes around and around

Why does he do that?

You wonder

As you lead him back the other way

Why go around and around in the same direction?

Just head back the other way

Look out the window and he’s done it again

He judges her

She judges him

You judge him as saying it

It begins

And around and around

We go

The only thing to do with judgement

Is

To

Let

That

Shit

Go

Step aside

Nothing to do with you

All just words

That flew in one ear

Out the other

And what does any of it matter

On a morning as beautiful as this?

**

I was thinking about judgement this morning as I tromped along.

Don’t get me wrong – I have had one of the best family Christmas’s in a long time.

But three days with people all crammed under the same roof – as a person that needs at least an acre of space around me and lots of time by myself – I was beginning to feel scratchy

Which is where walking off to nowhere helps.

I was gifted the sight of a huge wedge tail eagle lifting off the roo carcass he had been feeding on.

So close I could nearly touch him/her

Huge

Amazing

They are a rare sight after being hunted to near extinction – so I felt particularly blessed to see this great bird

And so close

Which has nothing to do with anything

Except that I had been thinking about judgement and had this bit of an epiphany about how it really doesn’t bother me anymore and why

Judgement is a funny thing because as soon as you feel yourself being judged

You are judging someone as having judged you and before you know it

You’re off on a war in your own head

Which should instead

Be filled with early morning scenery

And nice deep breaths

Yet we get sucked in

Baited

Into arguments with this nasty little imaginary parrot

The only way to deal with someone’s criticism (implied, perceived or real) is to not engage the parrot in conversation.

Shoot the parrot

(Metaphorically of course)

Do not let the parrot into your head

It will fly around and drive you mad

Sensitive people do this – I used to do this

Now I just

Shoot the effing parrot as soon as it begins

Who gives a damn what a bloody parrot thinks anyway?

Timely advice from the Eagle 🦅

Thought I would pass it along

Nice to be back – hope you all had a very special Christmas – I certainly did.

We (husband and I) are now back in our tiny off grid hut in the tree tops with no wifi (but phone service to post this and a pile of books and scrabble) the sound of Kookaburras and Cicadas as I type and all that weird stretchy time between Christmas and New Year aaaaaahhhhh love it.