Tag Archives: instincts

day 252

What are you doing this evening?

Loading up the hummingbird feeders one last time in 2025.
red-throated hummingbird migration 

one
last sweet nectar feast
before
fledglings and seasoned fluttering flyers
take to the wind led by stars and ancient instinct
due south
to winter in the Panamanian tropics
along the Gulf of Mexico
until the spring
when they return to nest

~kat

The long hot days of summer seemed endless when we were in the thick of it, wilting in the heat and humidity day after sweltering day. And then, just like clockwork, the days grew shorter, the air snapped crisp and cool, and the trees turned from green to shades of gold, red, and amber. Just like that the hummingbirds drained my nectar feeders in a feeding frenzy to fatten themselves up before heading south.

I will miss them. They’re happy chirping outside the window while I work. But winter is coming. And winter is no place for a delicate hummingbird to be. As sure as their radar directs them to the tropics, I rest in the assurance that they will return come spring, like they do every year…like clockwork.

I wonder what it is like to trust one’s instinct so doggedly that taking a thousand mile trip into the unknown known is just the annual thing one does when the temperature drops. I wonder if I have instinctual, intuitive capacity hidden somewhere inside me. I wonder if I surrendered to it, trusted and had faith enough that I would at long last find my way to nirvana or utopia, or whatever destination it is that we all seem to be driving toward. Somewhere along the way from birth to these many decades later, I’ve forgotten how to fly. The truth is, I have forgotten I have wings. How grateful I am for the lessons of my little friends. In fact I feel a little flutter in my heart just thinking of it!

much love, peace, and fluttering glimmers to you!

~kat ✨✨✨💚💚💚✨✨✨


Blink

I am fascinated by the assymetrical properties of the face. Studies have shown that we instinctively look at the right hemisphere of each other’s faces to perceive emotions. This phenomenon, known as left gaze bias, is not just a human trait, but a behavior shared by animals as well. To read someone’s face is not necessarily a conscious thing that we do…it happens quite naturally, no doubt aiding our intuition. A reminder to trust my own.

An Update:

Several of you have commented on this amazing phenomenon. Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia’s article on Animal Emotions:

Psychology research has shown that when humans gaze at the face of another human, the gaze is not symmetrical; the gaze instinctively moves to the right side of the face to obtain information about their emotions and state. Research at the University of Lincoln shows that dogs share this instinct when meeting a human, and only when meeting a human (i.e., not other animals or other dogs). They are the only non-primate species known to share this instinct.[66][67]

…and a humorous note…I have long had difficulty telling my left from my right. That would explain how quite honestly I mistook “left gaze bias” for a propensity to gaze at the “left” side of the face. In fact, emotions are ruled by our left brains which in turn displays those emotions on the RIGHT sides of our faces. It all makes sense. We gaze left to view the right side of someone’s face…duh. That’s why I write poetry and leave logical thought to the mathematicians and scientists. Spock I am not! I’m more of a Yoda. 🙂 I did feel compelled to correct the poem though. Now it’s all good! 🙂

the
dark side
of one’s face,
right hemisphere,
reveals full-on
emotion unveiled,
informing intuition
through aeonian instincts
hard-wired to perceive…
survival in play
a reminder…
don’t let them
see you
blink.

kat ~ 18 January 2016
(An ascending/descending Septet)