The Spirit is Free

The Spirit is Free

 

Have you seen a bird captured in a trap or held captive in a cage? Its fight to escape is pitiable. It expends all its energy on efforts to release itself, fluttering around as helpless as it looks. After multiple starts and stops, it finally falls down in utter exhaustion and exasperation in what would appear as a final act of submission. Its efforts yield nothing. Its glazed bloodshot eyes easily betray the terror and resignation it feels.

 

The Bird will pound and injure itself against the cage in an effort to be free. It can see freedom, but cannot access it. It believes that it has brought all this upon itself and cannot understand the concept of a trap. In an act of desperation, it turns against itself and refuses to eat to punish the world for its capture. However, it is only the corpse that leaves the cage.

 

At the interview, Robin made a good presentation, promise and pledge. Searching for work is not an easy thing. When jobs are hard to come by, you must take what you get. But once we get the job, we quickly forget the struggle. The benefits of captivity often outweigh the risks of freedom. The problem becomes apparent when you don't like what you do, and are only doing it to prove a point, make ends meet, or punish someone else who you believe laid the trap, even if it was you who ate the bait.

 

Work can be a great experience of growth development and freedom, yet few actually learn to thrive and benefit from the exposure and opportunity the job provides. We fight and expend great energy against captivity, become stressed, depressed and are burnt out because of misplaced expectations. Slowly but surely de-motivation, loss of morale and dissatisfaction take our spirits away. We die in the cage. Our employer buries us.

 

Many times our attitude and behavior suggests that our spirit is captive. We complain and whine at every opportunity. We do a great job of convincing others that the spirit can be held captive and that we are ready to sacrifice our lives to set the spirit free. Plenty of people hate the work they do. They do it without passion and with much pain like punishment. They sacrifice their lives against the bars of work to release the spirit. Why they give themselves over so willingly to do what they would never do freely is really a mystery. Just like the captive bird that injures and eventually kills itself by flying continuously into the cage, the end of the persons freedom is easy to predict.

 

It is very easy to say that the bird should have seen the trap anyway and considered the bait carefully before taking the plunge. It is also easy to suggest that the owner should make terms and conditions better so that the bird can enjoy life a little longer. Except for one minor detail; the spirit cannot be caged. It is always free and never captive. We blame it all on the cage. We hit, spit, bite and kick until we hurt ourselves enough to release our spirit to the maker. Spirit is courage, character, freedom, forgiveness and hope. None of these can be caged. Those that keep the spirit live  another day. Those who give it up, must die.

 

People will endure harsh work conditions and difficult circumstances for a long time and may even seem to thrive under pressure. It does not matter how long the reign, deep the dark or high the perch, if only the spirit is free. Many people sacrifice and give themselves up to careers and advancement in the name of success. Unless the spirit is free, it is only the corpse that will leave the cage. Nevertheless, the spirit is always free even though there are a lot of dead birds in cage.

 

Allan Bukusi, 2006

Veteran 7