Becoming a Magpie

Inspirations come from the strangest places: signs on the highway, songs on the radio, words spoken on a television program. 

Yesterday while watching Anderson Live, Alan Cumming (one of my fave actors who surprised me by speaking with a strong Scottish accent which just illustrates further how great he is on The Good Wife because you would never, ever know he was Scottish…..annnnnnnyway I am really digressing here). Alan Cumming was asked, “How do you choose the roles you play?” and he replied with, “I am like a Magpie” and he then went on to explain that he liked a variety of different roles. I didn’t even hear the last part of the interview because I was dashing around looking for a pen to write down the word “Magpie” and of course I couldn’t find a pen ANYWHERE so I texted the word to myself (because as a nomophobic I always have my phone within reach).

Why did I like the word so much? Why did the word “Magpie” resonate so deeply with me?

A Magpie is a black and white bird with a really long tail and where I live, they are EVERYWHERE. Not to be confused with a crow, which is all black and likes to tear apart your garbage and strew it all over the yard before the garbage truck arrives. No….a Magpie is different. Don’t get me wrong….no one seems to like the Magpie either. As I was googling the “Magpie” one article started with, “Magpies are the birds everyone loves to hate” and then calls them the “equivalent of a football hooligan”.

Magpies are opportunistic, tenacious: seemingly less comfortable in the air, choosing instead to forage for food while on the ground, scratching with their feet to determine if it is edible. They are smart and have a remarkable memory. Sources site that the European Magpie has a penchant for “shiny things” even jewelry, stealing items and storing them in their nest. The birds mate for life.

Ummm……sooooooo…..why would I want to be like a Magpie? (I actually had to stop and ask myself that, “Judy….why the hell do you want to be a Magpie? They seem like unethical bastards…..maybe you should choose a different bird or maybe even a fish…like a goldfish,  or even a guppy to emulate).

No, believe it or not, I can see some great qualities in the Magpie.

The magpie likes variety. It is adaptable. It is smart. It is fearless. It makes the most of each and every circumstance and situation.

My word for 2013 is VARIETY and learning to embrace my inner Magpie: be fearless; make smart choices and be adaptable when circumstances change.

Last year was horrible. Not only was it filled with sadness, disappointment and personal struggle, I constantly fought against my love of “variety” – feeling that I would have to give up my gypsy-like career path for something more stable. The consideration paralyzed me with fear.

Never again.

I will not apologize for my love of different,

My love of challenges,

My need to learn, 

My love of “try”.

2013 is the year.

That I learn to love myself

and……

embrace my inner Magpie.

Judy