The yellow bird flitting from one perch to another in its cage, looking out on the enclosed street with its trees, gardens, and a pigeon walking on the ground. The cages of our lives and how we desire to be free, to live outside the cage.
Seen, likewise, in the sudden bolts for freedom by pet dogs–the proverbial mad dash. In the old days onto the road, perhaps chasing the spinning tires: the many deaths of farm dogs, all from following instinct and momentary urges.
Jane Goodall, in a documentary, was very upset with the small claustrophobic size of lab animal cages and campaigned for more space, more freedom. An advocate for freedom. Unbelievably, there are some dog owners who put large dogs in small cages, insensitively–some kind of failure of empathy in recognizing the sensate essences of animals and birds.
And then there are those who, by practice, let their pets roam free in houses, for example, pooping up master’s beds, or the cats that destroy expensive furniture and drapes all in the name of freedom. Two extremes, then, one lacking in moderation and common sense.
I thought, too, of all the humans living in various cages, be they handicaps, diseases, or the more common limited/limiting relationships–involving abused or controlling spouses. I thought of the millions caged by forced labor or the more familiar Western harnesses of 9 to 5, in order to support families or lifestyles, even the Martha Stewart ones. Dreams, of course, can also be or become cages.
The desire for freedom as seen everywhere in Nature and the many cages we create for ourselves and others. The limited/limiting perceptions and perspectives behind all of this.