“You were born with potential. You were born with goodness and trust. You were born with ideals and dreams. You were born with greatness. You were born with wings. You are not meant for crawling, so don’t. You have wings. Learn to use them and fly.” – Rumi
A friend of mine recently returned from two weeks of vacation in Iceland. He and his wife enjoyed a long list of fun activities: hiking, camping, eating new foods, exploring unusual terrain.
When I asked him what his favorite thing from the trip was, he quickly responded, “Releasing baby puffins.”
Apparently when these baby puffins learn to fly, they are supposed to head out to sea. But a good number of them get confused and fly into town instead.
This is a common enough occurrence that the townspeople have a process: they box up the baby puffins and take them to a particular vet. The vet checks them out to make sure they don’t have any issues. If they are good, the townspeople take the box with the baby puffin to the edge of the water and release them.
My friend and his wife were at the vet when a guy brought in ten boxes with baby puffins. Once the vet gave them the okay, my friend and his wife got to take one box to the sea. There they released the baby puffin.
As he finished his story, I felt a shiver from head to toe. It feels akin to writing to me — releasing the warm and tender things we box up. Fly – and be free!
(featured photo is from Pexels)
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Surprised By Joy 
I like Rumi’s quote. We have wings indeed. Fly and be free–such beautiful words.
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What a fun thing to do. I would love that.
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Beautiful quote and story Wynne.
Thanks so much for sharing.
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I have never thought about it that way, but it makes sense. We all have a story to tell and it matters to us; we only hope it matters and connects with the listener\reader. Great quote and moving story. Monday is off to a wonderful start, for the both of us. Fly free!
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This alone is worth a trip to Iceland – how adorable and cute. Also kinda endearing that even in nature, the children sometimes need an extra layer of support to be set free into the world. 💕🙏🐧
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Wow what an experience releasing baby puffins. They are so cute! And yes, we are made to fly and be free. Then, if we fall, we just get up and fly again. Beautiful post Wynne!
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Thanks for sharing.
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Freedom of human beings and careful treatment of flora and fauna are no small issues right now, as is our need for clean water and air. Too many of our countrymen would say only some people should be given an equal place and opportunity in the world with them, as Rumi is saying. If we believe in his words it is time to say so and act.
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Wow, what a cool experience!
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I love this story! Thank you for sharing it, Wynne!
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Releasing boxed-up baby puffins back into the sea is such an adorable picture—and comparing that to the vulnerability of writing is absolute perfection! Releasing our tender, tucked-away words into the world really does feel like giving them wings. Such an uplifting start to the week, Wynne!
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What a heartwarming experience and story. 😍
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What a lovely experience your friends had.
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What an incredible experience! I think that would be the highlight of my trip, too. And I love that your circled it back to the analogy of send writings out into the world. Beautiful!
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