Crows are fascinating, interesting creatures most often mistaken for ravens. That’s understandable, as there are several varieties of the crow family all over the world. I’ve never thought much about them until one morning, I awoke hearing “As the crow flies.” Hmm…. Curious, I started researching these amazing birds, trying to figure out what they had to do with my life. What I discovered was truly amazing. Did you know that a crow’s brain-to-body proportion is larger than that of any other bird and humans? WOW!
Crows are intelligent and creative--they use the traffic that we so often complain about to their advantage. When the traffic light is red, they drop shelled nuts in the flow of traffic; when the light turns green, cars run over the nuts and crack them open. Crows wait until the light turns red again to swoop down and retrieve their food! Ingenious! Crows have the proven ability to craft tools; they sharpen a stick and use it to dig into the ground for worms or larvae. Crows can literally hold grudges, as a group of masked researchers found out; their work involved capturing crows for tagging. They noted that the crows remembered their masked faces and retaliated against them. Making loud “caw” sounds, they communicated warnings, threats, taunts, and cheers (yikes). Crows are also caring and grateful creatures. Studies have shown that people who befriend a crow receive “gifts” on their window ledge or porch. An 8-year-old girl living in Seattle has been feeding crows since she was 4 years old. They started leaving her shiny objects like buttons, earrings, pieces of metal, and even a bead shaped like a heart with the word “best” on it (NO JOKE). Her story is one of many; check out crow gifts on YouTube.
As I continued to research these interesting creatures, I realized more and more why I heard the idiom, “As the crow flies.” Crows are focused and direct. They may fly in a zigzag if sensing danger, but for the most part they go straight from point A to point B, sometimes traveling 40 miles a day (how about that for productivity and making the
most of the day?). You’ve heard the phrase “the shortest distance between two points is a straight line”? Well, that’s what crows do: they fly in a straight line, directly to their destination. They have an innate ability--and so do we--to stay the course. It’s only when we let adverse circumstances or situations distract and overtake us and cave into the negativity that we deviate from the path destined for us.
The path is a choice; it is never forced on us. For the right answers, we must merely stay connected to the Divine source to ask, where now? What’s the next move? And then wait to hear. In an era when everything is hurried, rushed, and microwaved, that’s the hardest part. I believe my hearing that idiom was a sign meant to lead me back to reevaluate my objectives for achieving the goals I had set for 2022, which are connected to my life’s five-year plan. Some things I had not planned for knocked me off course. Then a bible scripture came to mind: “All things work together for good…,” meaning that it was not necessarily good to me, but that things would “work together” for my good. Talking about garnering some faith…. My part is to regroup, recenter, refocus, and fly straight, get back on the course, my path.
We’ve rounded the corner on 2022; now’s the time to realign with our objectives, move forward, and end the year strong. So, taking to heart the words of a great and wise woman, I challenge you, as I challenge myself: “What will you do and when will you do it?”
A Life Coach, Living Life
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