Idiom #19: As Free as a Bird
No Comments »4th June, 2007; Category: Idioms
This week’s idiom: As free as a bird.
Most birds are free to go where they please. Unless they are in a cage or aviary, in which case they are not as free as a bird.
Meaning:
If someone is said to “be as free as a bird” they are able to go wherever they please without any restrictions or worries.
Example:
When Jenny left home and travelled through Europe without her parents, she was as free as a bird.
King Parrot at Adelaide Zoo
The bird shown in the photo above is not as free as a bird. The photo was taken inside a walk through aviary at the Adelaide Zoo, South Australia. King Parrots are found as free as a bird in the forests and woodlands of eastern Australia.
Click on the photo to enlarge the image.
See more bird photos – and much more – on my photo gallery here.
Read more about Australian Birds on Trevor’s Birding Blog here.
Read more about idioms here.
A wonderful thing about writing
“The beautiful part of writing is that you don’t have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon. You can always do it better, find the exact word, the apt phrase, the leaping simile.”~ Robert Cormier
This is one of the beautiful things about writing. It is an art, not a science. There is so much to be creative about. It is exciting to start out with something in mind, only to find that a piece of writing, or a character, or a story plot takes over, creating an organic life of its own. I’ve had this happen on many occasions, even with blog articles.
Yes, I do plan what I am going to say, but sometimes I end up somewhere else entirely. With my short story writing I sometimes start with just the name of a character in mind. Then I mentally picture that person and ask myself, what is he/she doing? Why are they inhabiting my mind? What will they do with the “life” I have given them? Before I know it, this new “life” takes over, creating a little existence of its own.
Sometimes it doesn’t work like how I’ve described. That’s fine. Sometimes it is just a snatch of a conversation over heard, a memorable phrase or an amazing scene that is the leaping off point for a story. Sometimes I do know the ending from the beginning, and plan the plot accordingly. Often though, I enjoy the creative excitement of discovering the story as it unfolds.
It doesn’t always work. But that’s okay. It’s not brain surgery. I can go back over and rewrite – or even abandon the story completely.
I guess that’s why I choose to be a wordsmith – and not a brain surgeon.