Lessons from a Reef Heron

One of the lessons I have learnt since my mother’s passing is that there are two guarantees in life 1) Death 2) Change. These two aspects of life are permanent and imminent. Today is day number five of the Suva lockdown, i.e. Suva retreat. Well I do not know if I want to call that anymore. Staying home and not being able to meet friends for coffee or just line up at my local bank is causing me much angst. My level of anxiety today, after finding out about the category 5 Cyclone, Harold heading towards Fiji’s main Island of Viti Levu has shot my angst to about a level 9.

I decided to take an evening stroll around 5pm with my neighbour. We walked in the rain and it was really nice because I saw a seabird, known as Belo Dravu (Fijian name) or the Eastern Reef Heron. She/he was elegantly perched upon a volcanic rock in the pouring rain, by the sea along my neighbourhood in Suva Point just off the University of the South Pacific’s marine studies centre. She/he was simply being as nature does. Human beings can learn from nature. To simply witness our thoughts as they arise. Being in the moment is akin to meditation. Studies have shown that regular meditators have a reduction of cortisol in the blood thereby lowering stress levels and also an extended life span.

I am currently still reading Neale Donald Walsch’s book “Conversations with God” book number 3. He talks in depth about the soul including death. In order to fully live, acceptance of death is key. Walsch states that death is a transition of the soul and one never really dies. Their soul just continues in another realm.

I do not want to sound morbid but as natural disasters and pandemics continue to rise globally, we as a species are given the golden opportunity to reflect on death itself. Like the Belo Dravu perched upon the rock this evening, we are called to live in the present moment. To live life to the fullest and know that like death, change is part of life. The soul is eternal and never really dies.

Reference: https://naturefiji.org/birds-in-fijis-forests-belo-dravu/ (Birds in Fiji’s Forest: Belo Dravu) (Nature Fiji: Mareqeti Viti), website accessed at 1930pm, April 7 2020.

The Belo Dravu, the Eastern Reef Heron perched upon a volcanic rock.