A magpie pooped in my kitchen today

Today I thought I would share another wisdom story for some entertainment and insight.

I heard a thud and a sound like something had fallen in my kitchen. I went to check it out. I came up the stairs to the landing in the kitchen and found a pile of poop on the floor. Not just a small dropping but a big pile from a big bird. The culprit – my friend the magpie. I know because he sat on the railing just outside the open door facing me. He looked at me with a cheeky cock of his head as if to say “you can’t catch me but I can certainly sneak in and get your fruit when you aren’t looking”.

My kitchen table was covered in fruit – much more than normal. I had a bag of mandarins, a giant bowl of pears, one of bananas and two of apples – one green, the other red. A true feast and smorgasboard for any passing bird I am sure!

So I figured it out quickly. Not able to resist the temptation of this feast, the magpie actually risked coming into my house to see what he could get.

I do not begrudge him at all. In fact I applaud him for his instincts and opportunistic means of feeding himself something sweet and tasty. I would in fact prefer he dine on my fruit then eat my wonderful butterflies – though I know that is one of his foods.

So I stood there laughing. Yes I had to laugh that I would get such a blatant message as this one. I stood there and pondered further the meaning of all this. I had to get something out of the experience!

So if the magpie had spoken this is what I assumed he would have said...

"be careful when you leave your door wide open for uninvited guests may come and take your fruit. If you offer this fruit then the exchange is not one of taking but sharing. So when you open your door know why you are doing so and what you have to offer. Just don’t open your door for people to take whatever they want without you knowing.”

And as I further wondered why would a bird leave a mess like this in my house the thoughts came again.

“the end of the digestion process is the waste of what we do not need from the food we eat. I left this as a reminder that not everything consumed will be of use or benefit to you. In a physical sense we excrete what does not serve us. It however serves others as it returns to the earth and creates a rich environment for another form of life. It is not to be looked at in disgust just with a fresh perspective.”

So how do I put these insights together and move from the reality of a bird in my house leaving a mess? Well to suggest the following:

1. Be clear about what you offer others and would like to share.

2. Open your heart to share what you choose to share.

3. Once what you offer is used, finished, done its work – eg nourished the other – the parts not needed anymore will pass through.

4. The cast off part of your offerings will be of benefit to the world as a whole even if the person who sees what you offered as no longer needed.

5. You control whether you share your gifts with an open heart or not. If you close the door then no one will be able to benefit from the gifts you can offer.

So I decided to take a pear, cut it up and spread it out in the bird bowl on the balcony for my magpie to enjoy freely. Not only did he enjoy the offering but so did all the other birds!

Let's go there...

Jenn