Saving an exhausted bumble bee

Lying motionless, almost on my small balcony lay a bumble bee in the morning heat today

Exhausted

Barely clinging on to the edge of the wood, nearly about to drop down a 30ft gap

close, to death

So I googled what to do and mixed up a combination of water and sugar in a small container

Then put some nearby

on the wood, so it could be away from the edge..

then I watched and waited.

I had no idea if it was damaged

No idea if it would fly

And I watched as it moved cautiously towards the liquid, stuck its leg in, then its mouth

Sucking away at the sugar, desperate, hungry, exhausted

It kept sucking

finding its energy

and gradually it moved away from the liquid

energy returning

but could it still fly…

You can watch what happened next in full in this short video Bumblebee

it crossed my mind that the Bumblebee is a good metaphor for ourselves after trauma – the pandemic, abuse, accident – what we don’t need when exhausted is to be flicked off the ledge, but something sweet, someone to pick us up and give us what we need at that time.

Time… to take in all the nutrients we need

Safety, away from the ledge

Space .. to fly- when we have what we need

I am sure you can think of personal or collective analogies for the bumblebee.

What about young people, what about prisoners? What if an exhausted group of people needs energy, time, safety and someone who cares about them.. what if…

Isn’t it glorious when something so weak, and exhausted, finds its feet, and wings again?

That, my friend, could easily be you, or someone else..

To see what happened next do have a watch of this here

I wonder.

I wonder what life is all about, and how life might be different to see ourselves as those who help others fly?

What do you think?