JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Brian Austin Whitney Blog Tuesday, May 30th, 2006

Hi Folks,

As I sit and watch the squirrel hanging yet again from my bird feeder that is suction cupped on my office window, I thought of something that lit a light bulb above my head.

How often is it that we get so set in our ways and how things are supposed to be done, that we miss really cool opportunities that come up altogether?

Case in point: This squirrel. Now we all know that Bird Feeders are supposed to be for birds right? They even sell all sorts of special equipment meant to keep the squirrels out of the bird feeders. They have spring loaded doors that close when a squirrel is hanging from the feeder. They have tiny little holes only large enough for a bird head to get to the food. They hang up in the air where squirrels can't reach them and so on. But, that rarely seems to stop the squirrels anyway. But it occurred to me that while people are so hung up on keeping the squirrels out, so they can instead observe birds landing on the feeders to ALSO get a free meal (without any of the work or effort that squirrels have to put in to do the same thing) they are missing something far more entertaining and interesting.

I nearly fell into this trap myself. "Damn squirrels.. eating all the food.. " "Damn squirrels.. even though I put the feeder where I thought they couldn't get to it, they still found way..." "Damn Squirrels.. they're going to knock that feeder off the window..." and so on. So here I was today, once again watching the hungry and crafty squirrel hanging on, sitting on, desperately grasping onto the bird feeder on my window. But this time, instead of trying to scare him away and off of it (which doesn't work either unless I go all the way outside and right up to him and scare him off) I sat back and just watched him. It was like a scene out of the movie Ice Age (which anyone with a kid under 5 knows all too well by now I am sure). There's this maniacal squirrel chasing a nut during the movie making pratfalls and slapstick comedy moves. This squirrel outside my window was every bit as funny, but it was happening in real life. For about 20 minutes I was treated to this comedy routine which 30 minutes earlier I had considered preventing from happening in the first place. My preconceived idea that this was a bird feeder and I needed to keep everything that wasn't a bird away from it nearly ruined the far more enjoyable experience of seeing this craft squirrel.

You know what? We do that all the time in everyday life. We automatically filter out things that don't fit our own acceptable guidelines. Could be the type of music we're willing to "hear" (not just listen to, but actually pay attention to) or the types of people we see and our preconceived notions about how that exchange is going to go. We're always so focused on the "goals" we often set, that we miss tons of little or even large opportunities that wizz past us at the same time. The sad thing is that for the most part, we do it to ourselves. No one forces us to (though they do their part in creating our mental "bias" in the first place). We're also victims of this same thing. How often have you approached someone and been turned away because you were quickly assessed as not being what they were looking for, or not being what they expected or because you had an idea that they weren't open to or ready for? Music of course often falls victim to this bias. Publishers or labels are looking for X and will never consider Y or Z until the masses are SCREAMING for Y and Z (or their competitors are making a fortune off of Y and Z). But now and then someone will forget that their preconceived notions are being violated and they will actually pay attention and sometimes realize what's really going on and how that may be better than what they were looking for in the first place.

So the next time you are confronted with something that isn't how it is supposed to be (a painting done all wrong, a song that isn't a "Genre" or "artist" we think we like, a food that isn't our favorite ingredients, a person who seems to have nothing in common with us and so on, give it a shot. You just might find it's better than you could have hoped for. You might even get a cool picture like this one from your office window of a desperate squirrel clinging to his motherlode of free seeds that's some human annoyingly stuck to his office window with suction cups!







Have a great day!

Brian

[This message has been edited by Brian Austin Whitney (edited 05-30-2006).]

Now that's funny.

While I'm in my studio and I leave the door open to the yard, I do get to see birds on the lawn milling about rummaging for insects in the grass. Nature is so cool.

Jody

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Music That Makes Your Soul Happy!
www.jodywhitesides.com

Thank you Brian -
I am still laughing like a nut ... I better watch out those darn squirrels might come after me
I am addicted to watching the birds & squirrels ... The squirrels are amazingly imaginative trying to outsmart me ... too often they do!!! I love to watch.
Thanks for the great photos ... I have to pass them on to my boyfriend .. he thinks I'm nuts when he hears me swearing at the squirrels swinging from the bird feeder in his yard!!!
Joanne

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[*]The Best is Yet to Be,Joanne Lurgio-singer/songwriter www.joannelurgio.com


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Brian, those pictures are PRICELESS!! Thank you for sharing them with us. It is always good to look at things from a fresh perspective. Hey...I thought that is what songwriters were S'POSED to do anyway!!

Hugs,
Bobbie

Brian,
Excellent point, very well made!

Some folks call it luck, serendipity or a devine appointment, etc. but I think what's cool is when folks simply recognize what is happening when it happens!

The amazing thing with your squirrel story is that you didn't know how much FUN the squirrel was going to be. He planned the whole "show" for you and you only needed to show up and to watch it.

The analogy I make of it is how many people spend time watching "super stars" on TV and clinging to that image so tightly thinking they can own (or munch) all those tasty looking "seeds" inside. It's easy to look & dream, but another story to actually produce the life we enjoy wishing so much for.

Anway, your jar of seeds has sure found a great "fan" in your faithful squirrel!

Michael



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The OUTLOOK may often appear bleak, but the UPLOOK is always bright!
Michael Borges
Praiseworthy Productions

OH LOOK,
IT'S A BIRD,
IT'S A SQUIRREL,
IT'S A BIRD THAT LOOKS LIKE A SQUIRREL,
IT'S A SQUIRREL THAT THINKS IT'S A BIRD!

I hope you entered these pictures in a photo contest especially the one where the bird is almost sunbathing on top of the feeder! You can use the caption above!

Best,
Lynn