loveandfeathersandshells.com

You won’t necessarily know it when you wake up. Maybe all you know is that you are going to try again today – to live, to be you as authentically as you know how, to get your needs met, to get through the day in one piece. By evening, that life – of scrabble, starvation, survival – has literally faded away, never to be seen or heard from again. Today is the day you will hear the sweetest words in the world, whispered in your exact direction…..

There is a reason shelled beings are so fascinating to beings who don’t have shells. When you have a shell right above your own head, you don’t have to worry about all kinds of things non-shelled beings have to deal with on a daily basis. But as the bonafide homebody that you are, it can take some extra brave to decide to come out. To come out and be in the world and mix and mingle and be seen and known and loved.

From the perspective of the paparazzi, being born covered in soft fetching feathers means you’ve got it made. Waffle-flavored snacks will pour from the sky (or at least from your personal Small Chef’s kitchen). Ladybirds will line up to repopulate the planet with baby cockatiel eggs that look just like you. She follows you around everywhere, snapping pics and filming videos and basically documenting every single breath you take, each one clearly cuter and more praiseworthy than the last.

As spring swings into full gear, things start to get competitive. After the long winter’s sleep, everyone is well rested (perhaps a little too well rested). You’ve checked and double checked and triple checked and all signs are go in the cuteness department. Then, right when the lady box turtle of your dreams appears, you make your entrance and sweep her off her feet.