Y Ddraig Goch

23 April 2025 - Be the Robin

Prompt: "Nothing in the world is quite as adorably lovely as a robin when he shows off and they are nearly always doing it."

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Winter is one of my favourite times of the year. Largely because of the dark and stormy weather, cozy nights in, and the juxtaposition of a cruel, harsh environment with the delicately beautiful wildlife that thrive in it. The robin being a star in this regard. And why wouldn't it be? Beautiful and lyrical. It brings life to a bleak landscape - or my mother's garden wall. Where many fly south for the winter, in search of warmer weather, the robin thrives.

The world can be a cruel, harsh place - especially in today's political and seemingly unstable climate. Opinions divide communities rather than bring about debate, and nuances are lost in favour of black and white pigeonholes. Alternatively, the robin is at home, being itself. Making the best of the often baren landscape in which it finds itself. Being damn proud of what it achieves - however small. If only more of us were as resilient.

When I was a girl, I used to watch them for hours as they hopped along the walled boundary. I couldn't help but smile at how happy they seemed. A simplistic innocence that at the time I could relate to. As I grew, the world became far more complicated and the ability to notice that child-like joy faded - replaced with responsibility, consequences, and anxiety.

It wasn't until I had my children that I saw that pure, unadulterated wonder again in human form. The joy and excitement radiating from my daughter the first time she did a perfect cartwheel. How proud she is to show off her backward walkover at every opportunity. And how every task, no matter how mundane, deserves to be done with or in a box split, accompanied with a dazzlingly bright smile. She is a robin through and through. Unapologetic. Authentic. Real. A bright pop of colour in my world, with the superpower of reminding me of the girl I used to be and how important it is to live in the moment and celebrate each win - no matter how insignificant they might first appear.

The world would be a happier place with more robins in it and I'm glad my daughter in one of them.