Apr 8 - DRAW A BIRD DAY

My hummingbird -- somebody wanna colour it?

The bird is the word.

At least it was the word of encouragement for a little seven-year-old girl in 1943 who simply asked her uncle, who had lost his leg in a land mine, to draw a bird in a war hospital for her.  The man's simple and awful but sweet drawing inspired so many that the ward was covered drawings of birds ... as was the little girl's coffin, sadly three years later, after men from his troop heard that the she was tragically struck by a car.

Her very short life inspired a lifetime of stories about people who longed to be free of some something or another ... desolation, despair, anxiety, a bad relationship, stress, money, fear, an addiction, hunger, or oh, you name it.  Freedom from the unknown.  SO TODAY.  I draw by bird for people longing to be free from themselves.  As this man, with great difficulty and amidst much pain, drew a bird for this little niece, may we all find the energy to draw a bird of hope, even when things seem hopeless.