The Parrot Outside the Window

Metaphorical Narrative

Outside the window sits a loud parrot. It repeats whatever it hears in the street.
One day, someone passing by shouts, “This is what you want!” and the parrot picks it up, squawking the same words back inside your room.

The sound is familiar, almost convincing. For a second you think the voice came from you. But then you see it clearly: it’s just the parrot echoing strangers.

You smile, close the window, and silence falls. The air is yours again.

Core Insight

Ego doesn’t invent truth — it echoes. It listens outside, grabs what others say, and plays it back as if it’s your authentic want. But a recycled voice isn’t a real desire.

Attraction, comfort, prophecy, “do something now” — all can be echoes, not your choice. The shift happens when you ask: “Is this mine or just the parrot?” Once you see the echo, it loses all power.

Saturday Experiment

1. Next time a sudden “I want this” thought arrives, pause and trace it back: did it start with you, or did you overhear it somewhere first?
2. Visualize the parrot on the window repeating it back — if it’s only an echo, dismiss it.
3. Choose deliberately: if it’s not yours, let it fly out the window with the bird.

Sunday Reflection

• What echoes has the parrot been repeating that never belonged to them in the first place?
• How does their life shift when they shut the window and listen only to their own voice?
• What does it feel like to want from within, not from what others declare they should want?