Do Not Touch the Hummingbird - What We Do When Opportunities Visit Us |Lessons from Dream Wisdom
- lucamy
- May 12
- 7 min read
Luck is what you do when a hummingbird enters your house unexpectedly. I had a dream where a hummingbird entered my house, and then I heard someone saying out loud: "Do not touch the hummingbird." As I touched it, with a desire to help but also to pet the hummingbird, it lost its capacity to fly and then when it found the way out, it kept crashing many times.
From this dream, I simply changed how I approach life's circumstances and opportunities and started to see the things that are "stuck" in my life differently.
Imagine that the hummingbird is your opportunity, something that was attracted to you but is still just an encounter, and that entity will find its way. Touching the hummingbird can be related to when we anxiously grab our phones to check who texted, or overly explain ourselves in a conversation to be loved or accepted. Touching the hummingbird is like not trusting the intelligence of other creatures to find their way out — their healing, for example — and we overly give because we can't see or affirm their capacity to change.
The idea of touching what is still fragile is like planting seeds in the soil and then going there the next day to see if it is already a flower.
The beginning of romance, for example — moving too fast too soon without creating a bridge to intimacy or connection, moving toward conclusions that impede conversations. We are led by expectations and demands, we want to hold tight to that opportunity and we end up destroying the magic.
You are going through a health treatment but you keep holding onto negative thoughts about your medical team — you simply feel angry, you can't trust them, and that creates an energy of hostility around you.
Let's say that the hummingbird is your project, your creative project that is stuck or not flowing as you wish it could flow. You feel creatively blocked, you feel that abundance is not flowing, you feel that you are not being seen or receiving recognition — that is you touching the hummingbird again. Your desire to be seen or receive recognition may lead you to act abruptly or with anxiety, and that can restrain things. You may have a need to control the situation out of fear of losing what is yours. But if we apply the hummingbird visiting you, you know that your participation in this situation is very minimal — you are more like an observer of the little one.
So many times we tend to behave in circumstances or in life's challenges as if we were the sole commander of the situation or the only one responsible for it. While we do have some responsibility, we must recognize that we are just one part of it — we must understand that our participation will help establish the healthy functioning of the whole. But most of the time we operate in a way that doesn't invite the other parts to help sustain the healthy functioning of the whole, and that is what we call the ego.
As I researched more, if this situation happens in real life you are expected to open the doors and windows so the hummingbird can fly away. As it sees the light, it becomes easier to leave the space and go outside. However, if you touch it you can kill it — the hummingbird is fragile and can get anxious, and this situation can cause extreme panic in it. It is advisable to touch only in an emergency, and to use a cloth or gloves so you don't hurt or scare it.
How many times are we pushing hard and trying to make things happen without allowing the intelligence of things to flow their natural course?
And then exhaustion hits. Touching the hummingbird is about when we live from a need to force an outcome or an idea, as if we were the sole operator of the situation, while in this case, the only thing you have to do is remain calm, open the doors or windows, and gently move away from the hummingbird so it can find the way out.
Instead of chasing it, instead of thinking it can't figure things out — gently moving away from it and allowing it to see the light is the best response. I can draw a parallel to this when we kill opportunities that are dear to us. Only because we can't trust the intelligence of that situation, the innate intelligence that lies in all creatures and in the universe. We overthink and try to please everyone so we can make sure they don't leave us. But how can we expect hummingbirds to stay stuck inside our homes? We do that with loved ones and romantic partners. The sweetness of the encounters and the magic slowly fade because we are so rigid about when things should happen, and how, that we kill the experience of building something from joy and openness. I see that with friendships a lot.
How many people do you know who end up losing friends because they simply can't understand their friend's nature? They try to possess, schedule time together in ways that feel unnatural, they get jealous about their friends having other friends or dating, or they demand a certain presence from their friends that might not be possible — because their friends are simply doing something else or have other priorities or issues. And instead of meeting their friends when they can meet, they become possessive, they guilt trip, and they kill the friendship. Basically, they want to touch the hummingbird. They want to interfere with what is natural, with the innate intelligence of all things.
What about business ideas and implementations — we fear letting things flow naturally. As an artist, I realized that I have a fear of letting my oracle be out there, available for many people to read, and that's why I keep myself small. I am so afraid of this work being in many hands that I am touching the hummingbird, as if I were afraid of its freedom. When your work reaches freedom, it reaches life, and then you no longer have control over it. This is about accepting who you are and what you have created — but most of us feel insecure. It is unconscious insecurity, but we touch the hummingbird, and this doesn't allow us to grow and fly higher, because we are trying to manipulate or control how the flight will take place, and with the interference we hurt ourselves. In many ways I feel insecure about my oracle — like some illustrations I could do better, or there are things I would like to improve. But instead of allowing this work to take its course in the world, I am controlling it. Perhaps my desire to self-publish is my unconscious fear — if I get a publisher and reach a global audience, will I be happy? Am I ready for that? The small tasks and management of self-publishing can be very demanding and exhausting, and touching the hummingbird in this case could be trying to protect the work from being seen or from finding many flowers around the garden. At least if it's inside my house and I let it die slowly, I will not feel vulnerable or open to criticism.
What about romantic relationships? How many couples have you seen who were constantly demanding and telling the other what to do? I was in the supermarket and saw a couple — the woman was complaining about what the husband wanted, and he was so miserable. Touching the hummingbird is about interfering with the intelligence of things, or with the natural rhythm that things themselves want to have. We suppress others to maintain dominance.
Is this what human beings are doing to planet Earth? Touching it so much that it kills its resources?
What about what we do with our own minds? We hold resentments, we hold judgment toward others: they didn't do that for me! They didn't give me enough! While we can still validate our feelings, ruminating or staying on the loop of negative thoughts, ideas, and impressions about others can only hurt us and cause more feelings of hopelessness.
How do you touch the hummingbird with your thoughts? Other human beings are hummingbirds — they are trying to find their way toward what is natural, but they can get stuck too.
It is like micromanaging life. We are constantly telling people what they have to do, instead of allowing them to find the light and do what is right for them. I had friends in the past who were so afraid of being left alone — because they had experienced being left before — that they became people with extreme anxiety and dominance over others.
How can we be present with life's situations and still remain calm and open to what wants to unfold? Hands off, baby, as a friend says…
I have seen many people in my life who got opportunities but then were so distracted by the gossip around them that they drained their life force. A lot of people who have difficulty getting things done get distracted by their phones and social media, and that leads to stagnation — because "touching the hummingbird" can be an escape from reality.
The exit, or the way to freedom, is to move graciously and allow the light to show the way. If we allow the light to show the way, we can move toward freedom. If you are a hummingbird, stuck and feeling confined by life, perhaps it is time to find the light. What does the light invite you to do? Where is it pointing you toward?
"Do not touch the hummingbird" is an invitation to not grip or grasp, but to soften. It is not an invitation to be passive, but to participate calmly and gracefully in the opportunities and challenges that present themselves. Where in your life do you feel stuck? Are you touching the hummingbird or following the light? Do you let others know that the door is open? How do you do that? How do you act when you feel stuck? Do you allow help from others?
Comments