For many people there is a very real fear of feeling considered ‘Silly’, which makes them feel too self conscious to go out and have fun.
It can be a strange one – at home you’re fun loving, playful and often verging on the ridiculous, but take you out of the safety of home and you kind of clam up. You become entirely self conscious, and it can come at the oddest of moments – maybe you find you’ve forgotten how to move to the beat at a gig, or feel really strangled singing ‘happy birthday’ at a celebration. Perhaps if you’re out in the park playing with your kids you have a certain sense that the game’s ‘gone too far’ and you feel a bit ‘silly’.
You worry that people might be looking.
That people might see.
And they might judge you.
Which makes you feel entirely awkward and in the hours afterwards you might even find yourself questioning what’s going on with you. You might feel silly that you felt silly, you might even feel a little bit ashamed – as though you know you shouldn’t be letting the judgement of others, or even the anticipation of the judgement of others, get in the way of you having fun.
The likelihood is that whatever it was that made you feel self conscious was completely missed by the vast majority of people in the vicinity. Guaranteed the loudest response was coming from your internal shouty voice of self protection.
Maybe you need some Kea energy in your life?
For those of you who know, you know (Hi voyagers of New Zealand!). But, as I always say to my kid “Context is everything” so maybe I should explain.
A Kea, is a Southern Alpine Parrot – you find them on the South Island of New Zealand, up in the forests and mountainous regions. They are pretty bloomin big, with gorgeous olive green plumage and bright orange under their wings. What makes Kea’s special is their sense of fun, intelligence and curiosity.
To be specific, and a little woo, I have come to realise that if my business was to have a spirit animal (sure, why not? Doesn’t everybody’s business have a spirit animal??) it would be a Kea.
Let’s delve further into the world of Nestor notabilis shall we? These incredible birds can solve logic puzzles, such as pushing and pulling in a certain sequence to gain food, and they will work together to achieve the goal. They will also prepare and use tools to ensure they get what they want. How cool? Kea’s live in small groups of up to and around 15 birds.
But, and this is my FAVOURITE thing about them – they play, explore and entertain – just for fun.
Moons ago, I spent three winters in New Zealand, mostly based in Methven at the bottom of Mount Hutt. Every time I went up the hill snowboarding, I would look out for these awesome birds. We’d drive up the windy road from the flat Canterbury Plains and park up at the bottom of the ski hill. Inevitably there would be a certain amount of pratting around with kit, which meant that you’d end up leaving the majority of your ski gear resting on or by the car, whilst you figured out why your boot wouldn’t lace up right, or why your binding had come loose, or on the really weird odd occasion, why someone had decided to smoosh a sandwich into your helmet, anyhoo…
In the time it took for you to assess and sort the situation, one or two of these big parrots would waddle up and start pecking at your stuff, or your car windscreen wipers. These funny birds seemed to really enjoy pulling stuff apart and jumping up and down on things until you flapped at them and they’d fly off squawking til they were just out of arm’s reach. Their natural curiosity and appetite for destruction can make them, in the minds of a few, a bit of a pest.
It wasn’t just at the car park where the Kea’s ruled the roost; at the canteen they’d line up on the rail of a balcony and play games which seemed to involve trying to push each other off, and make noises like they were laughing. My husband worked on the ski lifts at Mount Hutt – in his experience, first thing in the morning when the ski lift team arrived to do safety checks and get things running they’d often see rows on Kea’s perched on the high tension cables of the chair lifts. It was not unusual to see one parrot spinning around and around with its claws gripped around the wire, making the cable bounce and seemingly being egged on by its buddies. They’re not called the “clowns of the mountains” for no reason!
I think you can see why I rate them, and why I feel like they’re a fair representation of my work: to be part of a collective whilst maintaining individuality; to get curious whilst using your intelligence for the collective good; and not be afraid to cause some chaos whilst living a life that feels connected and fulfilling.