Tick. Tick . Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.
It's that d%*#m bird again! Pecking away on the drivet (exterior covering) of my home. Ugh! Making holes as large as golf balls... little by little... when I was asleep or simply couldn't catch him in the act.
The woodpecker!
Looking for -- what? Pecking holes -- why?
And oddly enough, he always seemed to show up when I had some sort of emotional challenges going on in my life.
Peck. Peck. Peck... another hole... and then another...
I called the drivet repairman, Mr. Drivet Repair, as I shall now name him. Three hundred dollars later, the holes were repaired. Gee, this "hole-fixing thing" is expensive!
In fact, at one point, that darn bird was actually pecking away at a new spot while Mr. Drivet Repair was working to fill this bird's previous damage. "How daring of him," I thought... That bird is almost teasing me, saying, "Okay, if you're going to try to patch that first hole, I'll just make another in a different spot. Gotcha!"
And he always seemed to show up when I had my hands full with some emotional challenge...
Why was this bird choosing MY home to satisfy his instinct to peck away? My home was surrounded by plenty of great trees... a smorgasbord of pecking opportunities!
Mr. Drivet Repair returned three months later with more holes to fill and smooth over. Grrr! Now I was getting REALLY frustrated! At the suggestion of Mr. Drivet Repair, we hung a scary, one-eyed, glittery balloon along the upper gutters of my home to act as a deterrent. As ridiculous as this looked, I was "opting in" to try this (hopefully workable) solution. The intention was to frighten "Woody" (as I shall now call him) away with this shiny, fluttering balloon. But nope, he was too cunning for that. And actually, for a very good reason...
Woody came back in spite of the flashy, glittery, one-eyed balloon. And it always seemed like he visited me when I was trying to resolve some very important emotional circumstances in my life.
Finally, Mr. Drivet Repair suggested I purchase a BB (pellet) gun and shoot Woody. UGH! I couldn't KILL anything (although I must admit, I am pretty darn accurate at target shooting!) -- I didn't want Woody DEAD, I just wanted him to LEAVE MY HOUSE ALONE -- to go peck on one of the myriad of trees on my property and in my neighborhood!
Darn... here comes Mr. Drivet Repair, now almost in great despair himself -- except that he knows he will be getting a nice fat check from me after he fixes more holes.
So now you may have guessed that this story isn't really about woodpeckers; there is a much deeper message here.
As I really began to think about the annoyances Woody caused, I came to realize that he especially liked to visit me when I was emotionally at the onset of change... or uncovering something really important about myself. His constant pecking (for a mate, to claim territory or in his search for food) was coincidentally occurring when I was unsettled emotionally.
Woody pecked with determination. That relentless TICK TICK TICK TICK was (at times) loud, repetitive and really really annoying. And so to is the voice from our soul... working hard to get our attention... our attention to create change in order to better ourselves.
The times in my life when I felt so unsettled, so out of balance, Woody seemed to show up. It was almost as if Woody felt my unsettled energy and said, "Its time. Its time to peck away at what's really bothering you... and I will peck away at your home until your inner conflict is resolved."
Your soul is like that. It only wants to expand you and give you the opportunity to achieve your highest potential. It wants to bring LOVE to your life so you can FEEL loved, accept love from others, and share that love among others.
Did I love that Woody was destroying my house, bit by bit, peck by peck? Nope, but purposefully, he was digging for something better.
So if you happen to get a visit or two from Woody or one of his tribe, consider it a blessing. Its simply your SOUL poking you... calling out to you to shift, to make a change for self improvement... to become all that you are possible of becoming. I have a new found love for woodpeckers!