Source of my Inspiration

Image of reassembled swift feathers from CommonSwift.org
This is the left wing.

A feather is growing.  I've known this for almost a year.  It may have been growing longer than this, but due to my myopia and daily rush, it's only recently come to my attention. The feather sprout is on my temple near my left eye.  I like to think it's evidence of my wildish nature.  Like others, I have long felt that I am not of this world.  My feather is proof positive I am not entirely human.

From Cornell Lab of Ornithology, "From Feathers, a Violin"
The male Club-winged Manakin make "an extraordinary sound" with its wings to attract a mate.

The feather itself is an unexpected revelation.  Birds fascinate me, but I adore wolves, whales, the big cats, Sumatran rhinoceros, giraffes - mammals.  Creatures of this shared plane, this common space (and only one that dives deep into the unconscious).  Birds offer something not of this world, they have magical qualities, totemic under and overtones, hints of the betwixt and between places.  Birds soar in the stuff we breathe.  Take a deep breath* and hold it in {delivering the wing dust to your blood}.  My feather whispers and urges me to create the things in my heart.  I, like birds, must travel between the known world and the 98% of the unknown universe and bring back hints of the other side.

You see, as the part of me that is human, I believe it is my responsibility to raise us up collectively, inspire, make us reach deeper, dream bigger, hope more and in general, to leave this place better than I found it.  The how, the means, the vehicle has always eluded me.  Art is my way, and suddenly, I feel like Atlas.  But the odd part is, the universe I hold is ether-light.  Odder still is my sprouting inspiration is more related to Hermes, the messenger. My project or projects at hand are exciting.  They keep me up at night, plotting the physics of them, the mechanics, the wonder, the beauty.  I'm telling you, so I don't lose my thread, my feather, my way.  I'm sharing the edge of this dream so I might be held accountable, so I might be asked just what I started when I started in the middle.

via Free People's "Love is the Law" http://freepeople.tumblr.com/post/36069102597/gold-dipped-feathers

*Side note:  I read completely new to me advice that holding one's breath is effective exercise for your lungs and helps all the pockets in your lungs take in oxygen.  http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/10-simple-habits-could-help-you-live-100  If Dr. Oz advises something, I believe it.  He could tell me the pennon of my heart would beat forever if I ate moon rocks every day and I'd find a way to incorporate them into my Greek yogurt.