Reframe

*Note: This was written before the recent passing of Jackie. Some of the references may be a bit out of sync with time, but the teaching remains. Please see our In Memoriam on Jackie.

When your mind is blown on a regular basis. When your head feels like it may just fly off your shoulders. When your daily composure looks like an exploding head emoji in real life. It’s time to take your Vitamin R and Reframe. Like a stroke of grace, reframing the picture recently became an option and an aha moment, not always available in a dizzying world.

Everyone’s beloveds, Jackie and Shadow, helped broaden the view unexpectedly, and gave an eagle-eyed perspective to an otherwise stressful landscape. The recent decline of our favorite heroine, Jackie, and the necessity to take her from her home to the Ojai Raptor Center for diagnosis and life-saving support, made people the-world-over, fret heavily for her, her beloved mate Shadow, and their recent fledglings, Sandy and Luna.

Every possible scenario swirled in the mind and made for very, heavy hearts. Will Jackie recover? Will she ever make it home? Will Shadow, assumedly bewildered by her disappearance, wait for her? Could he teach the fledglings to hunt, guard the nest all by himself, and protect their territory on his own? And who are these rude, sub-adult eagle intruders suddenly hanging around in Jackie and Shadow’s airspace and lounging on their trees?

It overwhelmed the heart and mind until grace interceded as perspective. Pulling back and getting an eagle-eyed view helped bring the realization there were so many possibilities at play. In the face of the unknown, we start projecting wildly. Wanting this all to resolve quickly, and happily, and having forgotten the potency of Vitamin D--Discomfort, it finally dawned that we were going to have to surrender and ride this out. It would have been a great time to take some Vitamin P-- Patience, but Vitamin R turned out to be the perfect gift.  

Backing up gave perspective and allowed the mind to explore previously, unimagined possibilities. It felt like discovering peripheral vision for the first time. All of a sudden, different thoughts and questions came into view that totally changed how the situation was being held.

We unconsciously reframe things all the time, but often in a rose-colored glasses type of way, making things fit neatly into a scenario we need to be true. We also rush to reframe with the worst-case scenario. But this more expansive, unexpected, changing of the aperture on the situation was much like the freedom of finding that you were wrong about something. Finding out you were wrong can set you free—reframing opened up to reality.

More eagles meant that eagles are thriving. An all-alone Shadow now had the company of fellow travelers. It was kind of magical, instead of sad, that just as the fledglings moved off on their own, other kindreds appeared. Maybe the kids were all right, and perfectly on time to be branching out on their own. Trusting in nature can be tough.

Jackie is a symbol of the heroic heart. She, Shadow, and all of their eaglets have taught us so much over these years, and given us immeasurable gifts. We just can’t know everything, see all the moving parts, or easily have the patience to sit with the discomfort. Nature is the greatest teacher. It takes time for our eyes to adjust when we walk out into nature, and it takes time for us to realize that we are a part of nature. We zoom in and zoom out, trying to adjust, but slowly the picture comes into focus.