You’ve been standing still for far too long with your feet in one spot … turning the same possibilities over and over again in your head. The days aren’t getting any longer and you’re not getting any younger.
The time has come for you to spread your wings. Others may not approve and may even scowl at your need to do what moves you.
Don’t let yourself be distracted by their expectations. Be brave enough to ask yourself what expections you hold for your own life. Be prepared for the unexpected.
Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered — either by themselves or by others.
~ Mark Twain
You may have felt the need for some time to stand on the rock and show the whole marsh world who you are.
I’m no angel, but I’ve spread my wings a bit.
~ Mae West
On the other hand, your wing-spreading may be spurred by a growing desire to explore and employ your talents. How better than by using them could you express gratitude and praise to the One who gave them to you?
Fear not. Don’t get rattled by the sound of the wind blowing through your feathers as you begin to spread them. If you dare, others may even take your lead and follow with a little wing-spreading of their own.
Setting an example is not the main means of influencing another. It is the only means.
~ Albert Einstein
Flandrum Hill 
Thanks for the great pictures and thoughts! I enjoy getting every one of your blog posts in my email! It’s like my mini-vacation!
Eric, going out into the woods or onto the shore always feels like a vacation to me too, if only just a temporary one. Thank you for your kind comment 🙂
This was a very nice way to start my day. Beautiful photos and lots of chuckles at Twain and West. And now I suppose it’s time to head off to the day’s wing-spreading. I am not getting any younger at all. Rats.
Gerry, Twain and West certainly did come up with some zingers. As we age, it’s vital that we keep feeding that sense of humor.
I would just like to share this quotation with all people who are trying to spread their wings – an are still hesitating:
Don´t spend your time searching for an obstacle –
maybe there is none.
(Franz Kafka)
beratungimwienerwald, I’ve never come across that quotation before. Thank you for adding it. Why do we always look for obstacles?
As far as I know, many of Kafka´s quotations only are available in German language. Hope my translation is good enough…
Well I think obstacles are a great excuse to NOT spread our wings, aren´t they …?
Thank you again for a great post. I am in that transition period, wanting to stretch my wings,so for me this was a perfect post. Thanks.
cala4lily, I feel like I am in transition too. I’m sure the change of seasons (which is just around the corner) will heighten that feeling in the next few weeks.
Love the heron photo the most. I watch for them here. Usually they’re in flight. Once in a while I startle one by the creek. Blue Herons we have. Lucky you be.
47whitebuffalo, those herons are magnificent birds. Do the ones you startle ever squawk loudly as they take off in flight? That always startles me, especially early in the morning when it’s still a bit dark.
No, I haven’t heard any squawks. Just the sound of their wings. It’s like they’re on silent alert mode.
Be brave. Fear not. Follow your own heart’s deepest desire, no matter what others say. I think you’ve expressed it perfectly, Amy-Lynn. Let’s fly up off that rock and into the unknown skies!
Kathy, the unknown skies await us 🙂
My arms are tired. Can I land yet ?
Oh Sybil, you’ve already been there and done that. I know your arms are tired. Please feel free to land anytime.
“The time has come for you to spread your wings. Others may not approve and may even scowl at your need to do what moves you. Don’t let yourself be distracted by their expectations. Be brave enough to ask yourself what expections you hold for your own life. Be prepared for the unexpected.”
These words have hit me like a freight train this morning, and were just what I need to hear. I am on the verge of something that could be very important and lucrative for me if it pans out, but could also cause hardship for someone else. Yet I can’t live in fear of making this decision for that reason, as the benefits to me, and to my family would be so amazing. I need to do this for me. Thank you for this post. I so needed those words.
Kate, I wish you all the best in your endeavour. Fear can be such a paralyzer, especially when you are about to take your first steps towards a goal. But it is only as strong as you allow it to be. It’s important to consider others but you also have to be true to yourself.
O boy! what a post!! …and your photos are becoming very well composed, kudos!
Amy, as I read, I felt like I was eavesdropping on your thoughts 🙂
Thanks swaps. An eavesdropper from the other side of the planet! Is that possible? Ha ha 🙂
Well crafted metaphorical post, Amy. A good reminder to keep the mind and body fresh every day.
Thank you Scott. We all need to keep it fresh, but this seems to become more and more difficult as we age. The mind and body both become rusty without practice.
Your last picture reminded me of a quote by W.C Bryant.
He who from zone to zone.
Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,
In the long way that I must tread alone
Will lead my steps aright.
I had it on my desk long ago in a transition period that one of you was talking about.
Earlier on in the poem he talks about lone wandering, but not lost.
We all need some lone wandering every now and then I quess, doesn’t mean we are lost.
Annemieke, thank you for adding the quotation. No, we are not lost. But as we wander, it often feels like we are because the landscape is new to us.
Amy, thank you for this post and many others that always bring so much to think about. May I share with you a thought I read on Aug. 20 ?
“Going into the unknown teaches us more about life and more about ourselves than anything stable and defined can ever do”. *Uncertainty and expectation, are the joys of life*. William Congreve
Isa, thank you for adding such an insightful comment. Uncertainty and expectation are so much a daily part of life when we are young. The older we get, the more we flinch at just the thought of possible uncertainty. No wonder it’s so easy for us to become stale and close-minded as we age.
I saw a heron the other day and got pretty close until it flew away. They are so beautiful and graceful in flight–it sort of takes your breath away for the moment.
Grace, I don’t know if it’s because of their size or their beautiful necks and long beaks, but they are indeed breath-taking to see in flight.
Thank you for the inspiration and encouragement! Your comments and quotes went with the pictures so well!
You’re welcome Barbara.
I agree that you did a great job flowing photos with thoughts and quotes. This was fun to read.
Tammy, I found that the commenters added tremendously to the flow of thoughts. Hope you had a chance to read their insights too.
Lovely images and inspiring thoughts, beautifully paired. Thank you for this.
missusk76, I’m glad you were inspired. Thank you for saying so 🙂
Thanks for the wonderful zen misty heron!
I am rereading the Outermost House by Henry Beston this Summer… here is a quote that speaks to my soul deeply..
“We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals. Remote from universal nature, and living by complicated artifice, man in civilization surveys the creature through the glass of his knowledge and sees thereby a feather magnified and the whole image in distortion. We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, and greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by the man. In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth.”
—from Henry Beston, the The Outermost House (1928)
Robin, that quotation speaks to me too. They are indeed ‘other nations.’
I looked up The Outermost House on Wikipedia. It looks very much like a worthwhile read and/or re-read. Thank you for introducing it to me.
Beautiful words and photos – I’ve been pondering them since the day you posted. Everyone else has such great words of wisdom that I’ll just add how much you always seem to touch my heart and soul. Namaste…
Thank you Cindy Lou. I agree that there were some pretty insightful comments shared above.
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