Boola and the Birdcage

I had a noisy friend, so noisy it was absurd. All day long his chirps were heard. His name was Boola; Boola was a bird.

Boola was my old roommate’s cockatiel. His home within the home was his cage in front of the living room window.  At the beginning of our acquaintance he normally kept to himself in the comforting enclosure of the cage, chirping away happily through most of each day. It was his safety zone, his security blanket where he was most comfortable and relaxed, and he became nervous and skittish when I approached the cage, if even to change his water and food.

My roommate opened the cage door for Boola every day for a while, and though he explored the living room and kitchen for a short time each day—each time lasting longer and longer—he never strayed far from his comfortable territory, his cage. When he was ready to return, or something made him nervous, he made his way quickly back to the cage; back to his comfort zone.

Boola always eyed me when I went by, wary of my presence, yet somewhat curious about me.
I often opened the cage and tried to coax him out, or urge him to remain out when I neared him, but he wouldn’t have any of that. He wanted to play it safe instead and not take chances.

Day by day, bit by bit, he ventured out of his safety zone and explored further and further from the cage—and closer and closer to me, yet if I took a step in his direction he became skittish and backed away. He would only approach by his will alone, and only as much as he felt ready. Closer and closer he came, across the room, up to my bedroom door, into the room, but still measuring the distance between us even as I whistled and coaxed him further.

Coming closer, one step at a time.

One day, suddenly and with no warning, he was ready. He made his way into my room and trotted up to me as I sat at my desk, climbed my leg and torso, and perched himself on my shoulder. There he went, and there he sat, day after day from that point on, comfortable and content to be sitting on my shoulder and picking at my beard or face

“Help! I’m being eaten alive by a flesh eating bird! Oh noes!”

When I walked through the living room to the kitchen, or my bedroom, he rushed bravely out of the open cage and flapped happily, flying across the room to land on my shoulder.  It seemed to be the one place he desired most to be, and he was never afraid of me again.

I told others:
“I once had a friend who I gave my shoulder to lean on, and in response he crapped all over me. Still, I enjoyed letting him have my shoulder, I just had to change my shirt after every time I spent with him.” ~Me

On reflection, many times have I been Boola in the bird cage, staying put where I was rather than venturing out; staying safe, holding still and remaining in my comfort zone. A job I hated, a relationship I wasn’t completely happy in, situations that didn’t fully suit me; places I remained in rather than venture out of the cage to seek better pastures.

I thought about the old man in the movie The Shawshank Redemption, who after spending so much of his adult life behind bars, in a prison cage, he feared early release and acted out so as to be sentenced to more time in the cage. When he was finally released and pushed back into the outside world, he feared too much the uncertain world outside of his comfort zone, his own chosen cage. Unable or unwilling to adapt, out of fear, past experience, or simply lack of confidence, he took his own life as a free man. He ended his life due to his fear of how to face his freedom. But was he really a free man outside of his former prison? No, he was still in his cage, the cage of his own design, caged by his fear and lack of confidence in his ability to start over.

There are those with a phobia of leaving their house, terrified of what might happen to them outside of their safety zone. Their fear of the bad that (probably won’t) might happen outweighs any thoughts of the good they might experience, and it keeps them caged, holding them back from experiencing a life of freedom. They live like Boola, caged by a comfort zone they caged themselves in, literally terrified of opening the door.

How many times have you caged yourself by fear, lack of confidence in your abilities, and refusal to try new things, to improve your life? Have you checked the lock on the door? That’s right; there isn’t a lock there at all. In many cases, the door stays closed because we haven’t pushed ourselves enough to push it open.

I see a lot of people in cages, held back by inhibitions or fear of the unknown. I also see people who appear to be out of cages, going about their lives happy and stable, but yet never truly free. They believe themselves free, subservient to no one, as that invisible cage of their subconscious yet holds them back from what they really want in life; what they’re truly capable of.


And Boola, my beloved friend Boola, how did he finally resolve his fear of unfamiliar surroundings and of exploring new ventures? Well, one day my roommate left the front door open to bring stuff in, forgetting that the cage was open too. Boola saw the inviting blue sky which he’d only formerly seen through the adjacent window, and answered the call. He flapped hard and soared off into the free air and open sky, never to be seen or heard from again. No letters, no phone calls, no hand-written notes by carrier pigeon; not a peep heard, and no word from Boola the bird. He finally overcame his fear, his inhibitions, and freed himself in the process.

“If you love something, set it free; if it comes backs it's yours, if it doesn't, it never was.” ~Richard Bach

Sometimes I wonder about him. Is he happy, is he safe? Does he miss me, my presence, my shoulder; does he miss his home? Then I reflect on the cage and remember where he is now. Free as a bird, free as the sky; he IS home, and he is free.

What cage is holding you back?

The Two Main Things Which Shape Us

Who you are right now, what makes you who you are, what you are, and the way you are, is shaped by two things: The past and the future.

It goes without saying that we are shaped by the events and experiences of our past. But we are also shaped in many different ways, by the events and experiences of a future we already imagine we know. Our fears, our anxieties, our plans and preparations, our emotions, our moods, our actions, and more than that, are shaped and molded by what we expect to happen in the future.

From a knee jerk reaction in anticipation of the doctor hitting our knee, to eating a healthy diet, to assuming to anticipate a lover or spouses action or reaction, to dedicating yourself to getting that good job or promotion, to reacting to others based on what you think they will do or say in the future, to awaiting or fearing the future, to living your life to be known as a good moral person and feel proud of yourself, to shaping and molding yourself to be the person in the future you aspire to be, to being self-reliant and/or lack of trust toward others, the list goes on and on. But it all goes to show that we are who we are because of what we remember from the past, and what we expect of the future.

It is also the fulfillment or failure of things that we expected in the future, when that future is reached, that determine who we are and how we are in the here and now; and all because of how we shaped our lives and our expectations toward the future when the future was still just that.

The Beauty of a Wealthy Life

Previously I posted an entry I had written some time earlier that had resulted from the fortune cookie I had opened, which said, "Wealth belongs to those who create it."

Further back in time, to a prior entry based on a prior fortune cookie, my fortune from a cookie had read, "Beauty surrounds you because you create it."

I saved it, as I do many of my fortune cookie sayings, because they sometimes give me ideas of topics to explore. At first I had not seen any relevance from that saying to my life, other than my past as an artist; my creativity. Obviously I create beauty, if you could call it that, around me in my drawings of the past which I would like to return to doing, and in my immense Lego city, as well as the stories and messages that I write. But that isn't where I expected to go, as far as writing about that, when I saved the fortune cookie saying. It's been on my desk till now in a small pile of paper slips, waiting for me to get an idea of what I would use it for.

Just a while ago, I thought about the entry I had posted about wealth and how it is created in more forms than money, by the people who are enriched and enrich others, and the message about beauty surrounding those who create it came to mind, in its relevance.

Wealth belongs to those who create it.
Beauty surrounds you because you create it.

They mean the same thing, easily intertwined with each other. I wrote about personal created wealth also being easily applied to wealths of talent and artistry, of love and compassion, of knowledge and experience, of friends and family, etc. Those things are all beautiful, and make life beautiful as well for those who create those wealths, and those who receive them and enhance them in themselves and in others. Such wealth is beautiful, and such beauty is wealth.

Wealth belongs to those who create it. -You create beauty.
Beauty surrounds you because you create it. -You create wealth.


May you create such beauty...In every day, in every way.

Of Riches in Store, by Both the Rich and the Poor

Here I will mention three things that I love. Chinese food, Japanese food, and fortune cookies. I sometimes go to the Chinese Buffet with sushi bar, and after enjoying the food, mainly the sushi, which I eat the most of, I look forward to the fortune cookie you get at the end. Sometimes they are amusing or interesting when they predict something that really has occurred to you (which is coincidence of course), or which does apply to your life, personality, or goals, etc. But the reason why I enjoy fortune cookies is because sometimes they give me ideas for concepts to ponder, develop, and write about. That is why I often save my tiny paper fortunes, because they inspire ideas like the one you are about to read.

One night I had gone out for sushi. My name is Ron and I am a sushiholic. I just can't get enough ot it. But enough about that. This entry is about philosophy, not sushi. And this philosophy I am about to discuss was inspired by a profound statement that came out of a simple fortune cookie. So I opened my fortune cookie and what did it say? It said, "Wealth belongs to those who create it."

Of course it does. That's why the wealthy get wealthier and the poor stay poor. Like Micheal Corleone said in Godfather 2, "This contempt for money is just another trick of the rich to keep the poor without."

But is wealth only about money? One can have a wealth of knowledge, of imagination, of creativity, of memories, of love, of friends. There are those who give of themselves to others selflessly; who have a wealth of kindness and com passions, a wealth donated in abundance. There are those who have a wealth of joy and inner peace. All of the above have wealth in life, and wealth in soul.


May you create such wealth. In every day. In every way.

The Falsehood of Failure, and the Truth About Winning

To use an analogy of the statement, “once an alcoholic always an alcoholic”, I say that in life, “once a winner, always a winner.” Not that the two are related, but just as the alcoholic has the potential to fall off the wagon and drink again, even when doing well in life, so too does the one-time winner, even when going through trying times when all seems lost, have the potential, on the perceived wagon trail to failure, to “fall off the wagon” and win again. Even the concept of failure itself is not real but a deception. It is a deception of perception because an interruption on the course to winning need not be a barricade, or even an obstacle, but merely a speed bump.

Once a winner, always a winner. Even if “losing”, the potential to win is still there deep inside. And with the potential already there, there is hope. It is not a wall, just a speed bump.

When I was a photo-department manager at Eckerds, I had an unbeatable streak of winning sales contests. Other managers referred to me as the one who kept beating them. Each time a new contest began, prior to its beginning, I always told my store manager that I was going to win. I never said, “I am going to try to win,” and I did not try to win. Ever. I always said, “I’m going to win this contest.” I knew I was going to win. Other managers knew they would not beat me. They tried, oh they tried, but they never beat me. Not because I tried harder, for like I said, I never tried, but because I decided in my heart beforehand that I was the winner. I pushed to win, but I didn’t try to win. I just won.

In the film The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker faced a great obstacle. He told Yoda, “I’ll try.” But his determination to try was his failure. Yoda told him, “Try not. Do, or do not, there is no try.”

I never tried to win the sales contests; I just won them. I set it in my mind before the contest began that I was the winner. So I won even before the race began. I was not a winner because I had won; I won because I was a winner.

I was going through some trials recently and it felt like I was on the shaky wagon on the wagon trail to failure. But once a winner always a winner, even when the deceptive cloud of defeat seems dark. Winning a race is not what makes you a winner. Being a winner is what wins the race.

So when things aren’t going as they should,
It is time to fall of the wagon…and win again.