Heroes Not Zombies

Bang! Something hit the window! I looked up and saw a Robin sitting on the window frame. I took a photo, from a distance, then slowly moved closer taking more photos as I walked. I wanted to try and photograph him before he flew away. I needn’t have worried. He was stunned and recovering, so I sat down in an armchair right next to him and got some really nice close ups.

It took him a while to recover so we had about five minutes or so together, which is a long time so close to a wild creature. But the robin isn’t a timid bird. In fact he’s always flying down to see what I’m up to, whether it’s filling the wheelbarrow or getting the shopping out of the car.

I was willing him to recover. It was quite a bang and I could see he was sitting, just breathing, and looking, and waiting for the healing to complete. I thought, there’s a lesson here, one I learned and practiced many times but a good one to remember. That lesson is –

Healing occurs naturally. We living creatures have an ability, a power, to recover, to repair, to heal. All I ever did as a doctor was support that self healing. Even the most powerful drugs don’t heal. They contribute to healing….maybe a life saving contribution, often a hugely significant, important contribution….but repair and recovery is a natural process and “treatments” aren’t a substitute.

How did I support self healing? By being there, by caring, by making a connection, building a relationship, by listening attentively without judgement, by understanding, by meeting the other, eye to eye, heart to heart.

And that’s what I did with the robin. Sat close, made an eye to eye connection (how often was I taught the importance of eye contact in Medicine?), and maybe more than that….created a heart to heart connection through intention and care….I was willing him to recover.

There was a pane of glass between us, so I couldn’t do what we humans are able to do together…to touch, to hold….the power of laying on a hand. But nonetheless, it seemed to me, it was more than enough to make the connection, eye to eye, and heart to heart, his little breaths making brief mists on the glass.

Is there anything more special, more powerful, than the connection between two living beings, eye to eye, heart to heart, soul to soul?