Citizen Jane Blog and a Birds Eye View
First let me apologize for this graphic display of nature in action
Yesterday on my way out, my dad and I stumbled across quite a scene. On my neighbor’s lawn, a hawk (I think it was a hawk) was sitting atop another bird, clearly finishing off a kill.
The two of us in the car were not sure what to do. Do we disturb this cycle of predator and prey?
Eventually I honked, but when this did nothing but lead the hawk to stare at me in a total WTF and “leave me alone” glare, I proceeded to get out of the car to try and scare it into leaving its victim alone. To no avail-the hawk just got up and flew away, prize in claws.
Why am I narrating my adventures in the wilds of suburbia to you? There is a point I swear. After a conversation with my dad later on (thanks muse Joel), it occurred to me that this incident is actually a good way to look at the purpose of Citizen Jane Blog.
We all have different roles in society and different lenses-say different “birds eye views”-on the world around us. Like the hawk, some view the world from a position of power. When people try to that power, those eyes look out and question why anyone would take what they worked for away from them. Some others have the eyes of the prey bird, struggling to survive, smaller and weaker due to nature and nurture. Others have eyes like mine in that situation, eyes of someone from the outside trying to make a difference in a situation we don’t entirely understand and sort of shocks us. And then others have the eyes of my father in the passenger seat, watching but unable to do anything because he was belted in and didn’t have the tools (of the horn). All of us contributed to the story and played a role in each other’s lives.
Unfortunately, nowadays we are only given the chance to see the world through one set of bird's eyes. Citizen Jane Blog’s purpose is to give all of those eyes a chance to debate, disagree, and learn from one another. Because aren’t we all just trying to survive? The world around us is scary and confusing. It seems unfair and sometimes evil. Maybe through this tool, through this opportunity to look through each other’s bird’s eyes, we can survive a little better through it.