Once there was a little girl named Birdie who was sent on a journey to find treasure. She had big expectations and dreams for her journey, but many of her dreams wer not even her own; they were shaped by the people who went looking for treasure before her. She didn't know how dream her own dreams, so she fostered the dreams of other people. She lost her passion because there isn't much room to dance inside a box that is built from expectations. She was afraid to step out of the box. She was afraid of the people who crossed paths with her on her journey. She was afraid they would think she was peculiar; she was afraid of having no friends. She was afraid of what people thought of her, because she forgot that they had journeys behind them, too. She forgot that, when they crossed her path, they had already experienced a journey full of sorrow, pain, discouragement and joy.
Remember the expectations that Birdie boxed herself in with? It seemed to Birdie that none of those expectations were ever fulfilled. She could never meet her own expectations, and what happened in the outside world never seemed to go as planned. For each failed expectation, Birdie picked up a disappointment. One by one, the disappointments began to paint a gloomy picture on Birdie's heart, which then showed up on her little face. She felt that she had failed herself and people around her, and she took the blame for things that weren't even in her control. She thought she was the only one with problems; she forgot that other people had messes too. So she sat in her box by the side of the road, stuck, and barely able to move under the weight of what she felt.
But before she became completely broken, Love came and knocked on the door to her little box. "Come out!" he said, "there's too much of you in there." But Birdie didn't listen to him because she felt safe in her box. I was a little barrier that seemed to protect her from the harsh world outside. When Love didn't get an answer, he began to tear the box down, piece by piece. "Don't look at me!" Birdie cried, "I'm a mess." But Love replied, "I can handle it. I can see deeper than the mess." So she hopped out of the box, because just hearing Love's voice gave her new energy. When she looked into Love's eyes, all her fears and worries melted away. "What are you doing, daughter?" Love asked. "I'm looking for treasure" Birdie replied. "I am the treasure," Love said, "and everything I give to you is also a treasure. So remember these things you've learned so far: I will always be with you. Every person that crosses your path is on a journey to find a treasure, too. And you never have to be stuck in a box again, because you have control over what you let yourself think."
This is the story of how Birdie learned to dance.