Illuminating Fowl Play Makes Me Feel Alive

Good morning, everyone; YES, the Monday Morning Huddle has returned! After several weeks of mishaps, including ongoing knee pain, that made getting out and about to capture photos difficult, followed by two weeks of being unable to publish my series due to a Vocal mishap, including my account being flagged for "suspicious activity," I am finally back.

Honestly, I thought about giving up on my year-long series.

Then it occurred to me how much unhappier I'd be if I just up and quit.

Throw in the towel, this girl? No, that's never been like me, and I'm not about to start now.

Sure, a few bumps in the road have been disheartening. I began this year with a mission, one to inspire and uplift readers, and my soul fully intends to see the mission through.

Today's Monday Morning Huddle is all about fowl play, but wait a minute; pay attention. It's not about anything unfair or dishonest, and certainly nothing to do with committing a violent act, resulting in another's death.

In fact, it's the opposite; it's about feeling alive- REALLY feeling alive!

Today, fowl play is all about the birds.

"Illuminating" is all about the early morning sun shining down on our avian friends while they play, flit about, and chatter.

My title, Illuminating Fowl Play, combines early morning light and our feathered friends as a source of inspiration. When nature wakes up before we do, and all the magick she holds unfolds, it's truly a blessing, one I believe many of us take for granted.

Unintentionally, of course, but it's easy to do when our human forward focus is on the typical daily agenda: wake up, get ready for work, get kids ready for school, make lunches, carpool, work transportation, school bus, timelines, deadlines, meetings, teachers, bosses, employees, employers, and on and on and on...

Take it from someone who's been there and done that. The super busy single mom always on the go, working long hours, seeing four kids off to school, sometimes working an extra side job to ensure all family needs are met, the so busy she didn't stop to smell the roses gal, who later learned to do so when the universe reached out with an unequival STOP!

Stop showed up several times in different timelines, pitbull attack in 2015, major surgery (splenectomy) in 2020 due to a rare benign tumor condition, and the latest, a work-related accident on February 16, 2025.

Each time, each incident, not only gave me a physical shock, but it gave my spirit a highly attuned wake-up call: slow down

Third time's the charm, I suppose, and this time I not only heard the universe, but I took things a step further, and made significant changes catering to my well-being.

I've always been a nature lover, and as a person who has been on a spiritual journey for several years now, I realized I need to dedicate more time to the little things- the inherent gifts wrapped in landscapes, gardens, walks, including early morning sounds and birds.

There's just that extra certain something about the early morning sun and bird play that lifts my spirit to the next level.

In my video, my focus is on the sun while various bird sounds delight the backdrop. They are unseen. I did this on purpose to get you to listen.

How often do you really listen to nature's goings-on, all the lovely music being played all around you, minus lyrics and instruments?

Although not music per se to the human ear, nature plays her own unique musical, her own symphony, her own soundtrack, each and every day.

Birds make up the choir singing songs to the angels' approval, but what about you?

Are you listening?

Do you hear all the lighthearted notes that inspire peace of mind, body & spirit?

Birdflight is a fundamental avian trait, but personally, it means so much more. It lifts my spirit to heightened levels of enlightenment and reminds me I am so much more than my physical existence.

Many of us, including myself, dream of flying, soaring high above treetops, chasing after our heart's desires or secret goals with the skillsets of our majestic passerine counterparts.

Fowl play- to embody the spirit of the bird, to fly high, even higher than one's greatest aspirations- now that, my friends, is what it means to feel alive!

To wake up each morning and give thanks to the sun may seem like a minuscule task, but when it's done a few times, it becomes a ritual one cannot do without.

I am a 5 am riser, always have been, and especially love sunrise from my balcony. No matter the season, sitting sunrise-side reminds me to stay connected to spirit. A new day beckoning is about so much more than my physical being and the human agenda for the day. Daystar, or sun, speaks to the light in everything, the light in me, and a personal responsibility to honor it.

Illumination, light, higher vision, enlightenment- I embody it all in my daily earthly walk.

What about you?

Will you make time to illuminate fowl play, not to engage in unfair or dishonest acts, or to contribute to the death of another (as the usual foul play entails), but to honor your spirit's call to feel your most alive?

Because if you don't, perhaps you are contributing to another type of death, yours- not your physical shell living here on earth, but your essence, your true being!

Be well, everyone.

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Below is the voice recording of me reading my Monday Morning Huddle. I decided to enter my piece, not only because I want to prove this is my project, but to demonstrate what makes me feel alive, hoping it might inspire a similar feeling.

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Hope I don't sound terrible. I did this once, without editing.

Good practice because maybe one day, my Monday Morning Huddle will become a podcast. You never know!