A Bird in the Hand

    I got home from work the other day and a small bird had become trapped in my screened porch. It was frantically flitting side to side and I attempted to shoo it out the door. The bird refused to be herded. Each time I would close in, it would dart over or under me to hide in the corners behind furniture. After a few minutes of this insane and fruitless endeavor, I realized that I would have to change my tactics.
    A pattern eventually emerged. I could get her to a corner and work her upwards until she freaked and her behavior became erratic. Ultimately, it became clear that there was only one option and it would be dicey. I was going to have to ensnare the bird with my hands quickly and then secure her without causing harm.
    The small bird followed the plan perfectly. I boxed her in and lunged. Her small and delicate body vibrated in my hand and she chirped excitedly and pinched at my fingers with her beak. I had to fight my instincts to let her go. Quickly and gingerly, I moved through the open door and she bursts from my hands back to her forest home. I had such a sense of relief and a rush of peace after rescuing this magical little creature.
    Later that day, I sat down to meditate. As usual, I settled in and settled down, but occasional thoughts would flit through my mind. "Oh, I'm thinking about my day", let go, back to the anchor of the breath. "Hmm, now I'm following a daydream down a rabbit hole. How long have I been doing that?" Let go and back to the breath.
    Teachers of meditation use several analogies or metaphors to illustrate how we should consider our thoughts when meditating. One of the simplest and most commonly used is clouds in the sky. Clouds are always forming and moving. They are ephemeral and completely out of our control. They are also devoid of intent. We never judge a cloud, feel proud of its fluffiness or shame because it's wispy and falls apart. We notice the cloud or thought, acknowledge it exists and let it pass. This works beautifully, most of the time.     
    However, on this day, a stubborn thought loop kept reappearing. I was so curious and hungry to explore it that I couldn't let it go. I would become aware of it, acknowledge it and try to come back to the breath, but it would pop back up. In actuality, I was just chasing it from one corner to another in my mind.
    Then, I remembered the bird! This tenacious and evasive idea was just like that energetic little creature, but now zipping around the edges of my psyche. I gathered my resolve, moved in to corral this elusive yarn, and lunged. Gotcha!  I could feel it struggling and tickling the edges of my mind as I walked it to the open door. I felt that same sensation of peace and relief. Finally, I was able to break the loop by imagining myself capturing and setting that notion free back into the ether forest of ideas.
    I can't control the birds. Others will probably find there way back into my porch from time to time and that's ok. They don't mean me any harm. They're just doing what birds do. I also don't have to toil and struggle to shoo them away because now I know how to handle them.