A Bird Born In A Cage Believes That Flying Is A Disease

A bird is born to be free, so if it is locked inside a cage, it will feel like its entire essence is limited to a small part: it is as if its wings were cut off and with them one of the things that most characterizes, the possibility of flying. The title quote belongs to Alejandro Jodorowsky and it will help us to see how something similar can happen with people.

Metaphorically, living inside the cage like a locked bird does not allow having a broad perspective of what one can experience: there are people who settle for what they already have, what they think is safe and do not allow exploring other full fields of new experiences. This is not negative if it only influences that bird and if it is of its own free will: the problem comes when the bird believes that the rest, sometimes companions, are wrong when flying. 

A bird that stays in the cage even with the door open

In the same way as a bird, human beings were born to guide our steps where we want to go, in a free and autonomous way. However, for different reasons, such as education or social influence, there are people who, at a certain age, park in their so-called “comfort zone” and are not able to get out of it, even pushing them to achieve it.

This “comfort zone” has to do with what is familiar to them and with what makes them feel protected, where the routine and what they already have established practically acts in their place. In fact, what sometimes happens is that it is very difficult for them to “escape” from the behavior patterns and acquired values, making them feel uncomfortable with those who are different from their own.

Since we are free, no bird is forced to leave its cage and fly; but neither is obliged to stay: tolerance of understanding different lifestyles from oneself is a beneficial behavior for maintaining personal relationships.

Two blindfolded eyes see more than a blind mind

One of the most famous characters in the world, Nelson Mandela, believed in the freedom of the mind above all else: blindfolded eyes can always remove what prevents them from seeing, but a blind mind will have it much more complicated.

Those of us who are not capable of seeing each other inside a cage feel judged on many occasions by inflexible minds: “you are crazy”, “that is not an adequate way of behaving”, “what you are doing is not right”, “¿¿ what will others say about you? ”; They are normal phrases heard by those who dare to fly.

Whoever is inside the cage does not understand that the world is full of nuances and possibilities. Whoever does not think of himself as a bird anchors his dreams to the ground and to a closed circle. Who does not question the capacity of his flight, yes questions that others fly and with them his dreams.

The mind must be turned on, not filled

If a bird has wings to fly, the human being has a mind that also allows it to do so. However, the mind needs us to constantly turn it on, to give it seeds to help it think and not to fill it with preconceptions.

There are people who act like a bird that has spent its entire life in the cage and is afraid to jump when the door is opened: it is okay for his companions to fly, it is just that he does not dare to do so. This has a justified reason and in this case all that is needed is daring and courage. “Sapere aude” that the philosopher Kant would say: dare to know, to know, to use your reason to achieve it.