Are you a bird?

[Melooon]

 

I once sat on the floor for a long time and let my mind wander; and I started to imagine a huge owl or possibly a falcon, glowing with clear light over a sunny ocean that went on for many miles. I remember the glittering on the water and the blue sky and how it felt to have wings and feathers fluttering in the wind.

I was reminded of this memory recently because my mum had been watching David Lynches talks on Transcendental Meditation and she had somewhat similar experience.

For me, my bird being time came before some large life changes and I remember it fondly as a reassuring moment. Since then large white birds have appeared in many dreams, sometimes kindly and sometimes sinister, but always as an aspect of my subconscious.

I'm aware that many people feel a close connection to some birds, and I wonderd if it might make a good discussion 

Have you had such an experience? And if not a bird, maybe something else?

[candycanearter07]

Yeah, with slimes

[ThunderPerfectWitchcraft]

I absolutely love blackbirds; I believe that they somewhat represent a part of me; but I never identified with them for real.

But many years ago, I turned into a tree while meditating; looking on a sunlit meadow near a stream, I saw branches growing into my field of view. Can't say how long this lasted. It was not the only vision I've had in this night, and the whole experience was quite life-bending. I never again dared to do what brought me into this particular state of mind.

[MilkJar]

I wish, birds are wicked. I like crows. and ravens. and grackles.

[corv]

You can probably tell based on my nickname and website name
I've loved crows for a while now. It's nothing spiritual, I just strongly relate to little guys who are known for being annoying but are exceptionally intelligent and scientifically fascinating. It's also no secret that I'm a furry and my fursona is a crow (this year is my third in a row going to a convention).

[Melooon]

  omg I was workn up at 5am after making this by an endless loop of brids singing what sounded like a mario kart song for half an hour and I was so confused and distressed, but it turned out my flatmate had gone away and left their alarm on and they have a really crappy dawn chorus alarm clock that sounds like a really loud nintendo ds 

[Nikodile]

I feel like I always "related" to tortoises. Just fellas that don't really move around too much, have a really comfortable looking home built-in, pretty chill in general.

I know most of that isn't really true as we have a red-footed tortoise ourselves, but I feel a 'connection' to the ideas in my head about tortoises at least.

[BlazingCobaltX]

I largely feel envious of birds. I salute the ones that hang around my house (there's a nest on my roof), like acknowledging their innate superiority in having an ability I've always wished for. Kinda hope the regulars recognise me/my family members too.

I relate most to the owl, as a bird of wisdom. I love the way they peer into anything with their deeply intense eyes, although I know they can be quite derpy. I've planned a tattoo with an owl in it: It's a copy of a mozaic I saw in Rome that I related to deeply. Maybe since then I've kind of accepted the owl as my personal bird.

[Misanthropic Monster™]

I've always felt oddly close to the platypus... as a child I remember when my grandma would take me anywhere that had an accessible water play area for kids, I'd pretend to be a platypus for hours - she'd sometimes humor it and pretend to 'bait me over' with food and feed me biscuits.

I am pretty sure I pretended to be a platypus when my uncle got me a paddling pool for our yard too.

My nickname was Platypus at an old job I used to have back in 2007 too, so I just relate to the critters a lot - we're both weird round little guys.

I wouldn't say I feel a connection to birds on a spiritual level, in the same way I do for our little monotremes, but I do have a penchant for corvids and zebra finches.

[stranger]

crows!! yes!!! i've long felt a connection to crows and other black corvids! :) it's a shame that humans can't grow talons or wings

when i get particularly stressed, i look for birds nearby as a way of reassuring myself. if i see a flock of birds, especially crows, then it's a sign that i'll get through okay. i'm certainly not a professional "ornithomancer", but i think it's better that i'm not -- this way, good signs are the ONLY kind of signs hehe

[everyport]

Have you had such an experience?

I have had this experience! It was some years ago, I was meditating like I sometimes do, and I was practicing an exercise where I imagined myself coming out of my body. And in this exercise I would try really hard to picture myself sitting, as if I was floating in the air looking at myself, and I would also focus on picturing the room around me. One day I simply let my mind wander and I just decided to float up and I started imagining what the buildings around my house looked like. And next thing I knew I was picturing myself, very vividly, flying across the skies with the city below me.

It felt very real. When you're dreaming the fact that your body is fully relaxed and your mind is disconnected from it allows you to dream vividly and experience genuine sensations even though your body isn't feeling them. And it was the same in this case, I was so disconnected from my body, I actually felt the sensations of flying, well I imagined them but I imagined them in a way that felt as real as reality itself, just like what happens you're dreaming. But I was conscious and just flew around. It was pretty amazing. Even last night I had a dream where am earthquake so strong happened I thought to myself with 150% certainty "this is no dream, this is actually happening" as I panicked only then to wake up and be like "oh..". So yeah our minds can experience very real things when we don't feel our bodies. That's the best way I can describe it.

Though in my experience I didn't associate with birds. I did imagine I had wings however. But in a human form. I see ravens and crows are pretty popular here and I must agree, if I were a bird I'd definitely be a raven or a crow. When I first saw them in real life it was pretty amazing, they felt so big and powerful. I'm also a big fan of hummingbirds. I think it's what they're called, the ones who are able to stand still while flying because their wings flap very rapidly.


After thinking all of this I realized... I forgot that my favourite animal is a bird
I just don't immediately associate with birds because it can't fly. But in terms of animals and well birds as well the one I actually adore are penguins. Just looking at them brings me a slight joy, I feel slightly happier. So yeah favourite bird award goes to penguins for suure T-T they're jusst so amazing.

[dotmidi]

I'm aware that many people feel a close connection to some birds, and I wonderd if it might make a good discussion 

Have you had such an experience? And if not a bird, maybe something else?

Yeah, I've had a very similar experience; many days, I will sit with my own thoughts, allowing nothing to interrupt me as I slip into my own mind and my body with me. For me, it's quite easy to imagine what it's like to be a fish or bird. Like, I can image how my body would feel if I were those animals... I had no idea this was considered mediation; for a long time, I thought I was just "simulating" (as I describe it) how my nervous system would feel under certain circumstances.