My husband showed me a TikTok video the other day of a chicken high-tailing it across a field headed for the henhouse, while a hawk swoops down repeatedly trying to snatch it. The people filming the video are too far away to help, but they’re screaming at the chicken. “Go, RUN, go, go, go!”
Some days I feel just like that chicken. Standing out in a field, doing my thing, and all of a sudden, a hawk appears out of nowhere, and I’m running for the henhouse.
“Well, that’s just nature,” my mom used to say. Out in the wild, every day is a struggle for survival, a relentless search for food, a constant awareness of the dangers around you. Why should humans have it any different?
But there’s one thing the animals and plants do better than people. They shake it off. Literally. A rabbit who has successfully eluded a fox will vigorously shake its entire body to release the stress. It pricks up its ears to make sure the fox is gone, and it goes back to living, knowing full well there will be another fox, but for now, it is safe. And maybe an hour later, you’ll find that same rabbit hopping high in the air to impress a potential mate, or nibbling happily on the strawberries in your garden, or lying stretched out in the shade of your backyard tree.
If you’re that rabbit, the hawk is going to swoop, the fox is going to chase, the human is going to raise those strawberry beds out of your reach, and every single day there are going to be challenges to overcome. But every single day, there will also be a soft bed of grass where you can lie down for a rest, and a fellow creature to keep you company, and a sunset to help you settle at night.
In case you’re wondering, the chicken in the video made it to the henhouse. The people filming the video cheered. And the hawk flew away with empty talons to go in search of food elsewhere. And that’s just nature, too.
If you like this post, please share and credit Teresa and Bursts of Brilliance for a Creative Life blog
