I have fears.
(You do too, right?)
I have a fear that something terrible will happen to one of my children.
I have a fear that (lame, I know) I will lose my phone - which feels to me like it contains my whole world in its data card.
I fear that I won't cross enough off of my to-do list before it's my time to leave this earth.
I have a fear that I'm not doing right by my children on a daily basis.
I also have a ridiculous fear of birds.
I have no idea when it started or the reason why, but the winged animals make me physically cringe whenever they are nearby.
I love the sounds they make and think that many of them are beautiful, but when they make a move towards my person, I tend to freak out a bit.
My family laughs when they recount stories of me and my bird encounters.
It might be the time that the birds repeatedly dove to attack my head at Disney World, or the time I ran screeching through an amusement park because pigeons were flocking towards the french fries we were carrying, or when I shiver, quiver and freak out because there is a resident pigeon that lives above the only way out from the American Club.
It is a silly fear, but one that grips me every time regardless.
While in Singapore, we visited the Jurong Bird Park.
There were so many fun things about that experience, but I won't recount them all here for you in photos. The kids explored the flamingo lake, learned about HUGE pelicans (I had NO idea they were that big!) and danced in the water fountain and watched a show with darling trained birds.
Then - then, came the "Birds of Prey" show.
The bird handlers asked for volunteers and in a blink of an eye, I decided that it might be good to face my fears and see if I couldn't plant my feet firmly in the spot I was told and come nose to beak with a large (REALLY LARGE) bird.
The bird handler put a large leather glove on me and explained what we were going to do (basically put a piece of raw meat on top of the glove) and cautioned me not to (1) move (2) drop the meat or (3) freak out.
Ok, he didn't actually tell me not to freak out, but he did ask if I was scared.
To which, I think I answered in a confident voice "no" ... or maybe I said "yes" ... I cannot honestly remember. All I can remember is thinking to myself that I was either going to wet my pants, run screaming from the little ampitheater or simply curl up into a little ball and repeat to myself "they can't hurt me, they can't hurt me!"
Insert TOTALLY fake smile indicating to the audience that I am NOT scared.
(You do too, right?)
I have a fear that something terrible will happen to one of my children.
I have a fear that (lame, I know) I will lose my phone - which feels to me like it contains my whole world in its data card.
I fear that I won't cross enough off of my to-do list before it's my time to leave this earth.
I have a fear that I'm not doing right by my children on a daily basis.
I also have a ridiculous fear of birds.
I have no idea when it started or the reason why, but the winged animals make me physically cringe whenever they are nearby.
I love the sounds they make and think that many of them are beautiful, but when they make a move towards my person, I tend to freak out a bit.
My family laughs when they recount stories of me and my bird encounters.
It might be the time that the birds repeatedly dove to attack my head at Disney World, or the time I ran screeching through an amusement park because pigeons were flocking towards the french fries we were carrying, or when I shiver, quiver and freak out because there is a resident pigeon that lives above the only way out from the American Club.
It is a silly fear, but one that grips me every time regardless.
While in Singapore, we visited the Jurong Bird Park.
There were so many fun things about that experience, but I won't recount them all here for you in photos. The kids explored the flamingo lake, learned about HUGE pelicans (I had NO idea they were that big!) and danced in the water fountain and watched a show with darling trained birds.
Then - then, came the "Birds of Prey" show.
The bird handlers asked for volunteers and in a blink of an eye, I decided that it might be good to face my fears and see if I couldn't plant my feet firmly in the spot I was told and come nose to beak with a large (REALLY LARGE) bird.
The bird handler put a large leather glove on me and explained what we were going to do (basically put a piece of raw meat on top of the glove) and cautioned me not to (1) move (2) drop the meat or (3) freak out.
Ok, he didn't actually tell me not to freak out, but he did ask if I was scared.
To which, I think I answered in a confident voice "no" ... or maybe I said "yes" ... I cannot honestly remember. All I can remember is thinking to myself that I was either going to wet my pants, run screaming from the little ampitheater or simply curl up into a little ball and repeat to myself "they can't hurt me, they can't hurt me!"
Insert TOTALLY fake smile indicating to the audience that I am NOT scared.
Seriously? A vulture?
I run screaming when a finch comes my way!
Nose to beak ... beady eye to eye ...
What you can't see in these photos is that I had the classic "fear" stance going on. My toes were curled up inside my flipflops (I know, that's hard to imagine, but they were trying to hide!) and I was clutching that microphone to my body, as if that could help protect me!
At this point, Mr. Vulture knocked the meat off of the glove, and my sunglasses off of my head (with his massive wings) and I began to internally freak out in a major way. Little bird handler dude didn't seem big enough to protect me from Mr. Vulture and that leather glove sure didn't seem to be serious enough to keep Mr. Vulture from eating me to pieces.
I have about 20 more photos from this little "be brave" experience, but they are simply different variations of me with clenched toes and a panicky look on my face, so I won't share them with you.
Eventually, Little Bird Handler and I worked our way up into the crowd, performed a few more tricks and thankfully, I was finished. I spent the rest of the show breathing a bit deeper and more calmly, and realized that maybe, just MAYBE, I had taken a step to face one of my fears.
I haven't had any interactions with birds since being in Singapore, so we shall see what my reaction is next time a winged creature takes a flight path towards me.
All I know is that I raised my hand, got out of my seat and said "I'll do it!"
What fears do you have? Do you think they're silly? Are they physical or mental fears (or is there a combination of both?).
Don't be shy ... join in the conversation (unless of course, your fear is posting a comment on a blog!)
