Photographs and Memories

There are two symbols that currently speak to me on an incredibly deep level: birds and boats.

First, on the birds. I am in love with both sparrows and swallows. Sparrows are little and round and cute and kind of common and happy. They hop around without a care in the world and sing their pudgy little hearts out. I want to hug them but they’d probably explode.

Swallows are incredibly graceful and beautiful. The curves of their body are sweeping and their colors are distinctive. When they fly, I am left without a doubt that magic is happening.

I am also currently all about the boats. Before I left for school, I went thrifting with my mom and I found this sterling silver sailboat pendant. It’s one of my favorite necklaces at this point because boats are, to me, freeing. Having lived in a landlocked state for two thirds of my  life, the ocean and the open water is entrancingly unfamiliar. An angry sea arrests me like nothing else could. Swimming in anything over four feet deep sends me into a panic attack, so go figure, right?

Both birds and boats are symbols of freedom to me. I am currently…bound. To my family, mostly, but also by debt and convention and baggage and promises. I long to break free and fly or sail away, leaving all of my various responsibilities behind. But I can’t.

Until the day when I can truly be my own person and live life on my terms, I will continue to love birds and boats, coveting the freedom and wishing I could join them.