A bird pecks incessantly at its reflection on the window. It not only pecks, it clucks and scratches aggressively against its reflection. This has been going on for 5 days straight. I downloaded a bird identifier app, but it couldn’t identify the bird. A google search using the features of the bird proved furtive too but apparently pecking against windows is common amongst certain birds.
According to science, the constant pecking of a bird on windows is due to the territorial nature of some birds especially in nesting season. When it sees its reflection on glass, it perceives it to be a rival bird and tries defending its territory. The inherent stupidity of the bird is humorous but then it hits me that we humans also exhibit this stupidity.
We do this by blaming others for mistakes we made or problems we can’t solve. Growing up in a society rooted in superstition masked as religion, pointing fingers at family members, neighbors, and strangers for our misfortunes was the order of the day. This malady has been exploited by certain religious leaders and led to altercations and even killings. We attacked our reflections in windows (perceived enemies) while we were the problem. This mentality led to suspicion on the highest level; Were the birds who built a nest on the roof mere pigeons or were they monitoring spirits? Was the cat that crossed our path yesterday really a cat or was that Aunt Oluchi from Mbaise visiting? Today, while some have evolved from this mindset of blaming others, the echoes of this lingers in that uneasy laughter we use when blaming ‘village people’ for certain occurrences.
On another level, the lopsided art of blaming past governments and opposition parties for present problems is the favorite past time of many politicians. There is a degree of peace and power when we take responsibilities for our mistakes and see misfortunes beyond our control as just a piece in a puzzle that might make sense someday. The American Lebanese poet Khalil Gibran was on to something when he wrote ‘And God said “Love Your Enemy,” and I obeyed him and loved myself.
Are there really evil powers out there that cause bad things to happen? That’s an argument for another day, but I do know that one time i failed to do the dishes for a few days, the invasion of cockroaches that followed after and the stress i had to go through eradicating them wasn’t brought on me by my village people.I brought it on myself.
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