Magical Murmurings

I’ve been deep in it since I woke up this morning—reading about grief, talking about it and writing about it. It’s a griefy time of year for me—turns out that’s true for a lot of people. What I’m learning about this whole body experience is soul soothing and a lot all at once. I was starting to feel anxious and decided I needed to get up and out to clear my head, so I went down to the foggy river. Not where you’d expect to find clarity, eh?

There was lots of noisy bird chirping and I began to see small flocks of starlings. They filled the branches of a tall tree. A new small flock would join the bigger flock, their volume would increase and there would be a little liftoff and a teasing of a murmuring and back to the tree. The group continued to grow in size and then got louder and then the giant “woooosh!” of liftoff! This time they flew out over the river and above the bank on the opposite side.

Though obscured by the fog, I could see the traces of their fascinatingly choreographed flight with groups separating, rejoining and swirling about as one unit. There was the added soundtrack of Taps and a distant ship horn.

In this moment, I was reminded that no matter how obscured it may be by the weight of sadness, even when it’s not sharp and clear, there is always wonder and magic at play. In fact, as I am learning, there is actually magic in embracing the grief.

Wishing you the space and time to experience any grief you may be carrying so that you can also experience the magic that coexists.

*This post is actually from December 30, 2021, but I was having a lot of trouble saving edits to upload. So, the video below is the unedited capture.

Murmurings on a foggy December day.