This phrase brings us back to the fundamental value of Intentionality.
This imagery (reminiscent of Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha) captures the two ways to move through life. Both the leaf and the bird are "in the air," and both are moving. To an observer on the ground, they might look similar for a moment. But the mechanics of their flight are opposites. One is a victim of the wind; the other is a master of it.
Here is why you must choose your mode of flight:
The Leaf (The Drifter):
External Control: The leaf has no engine and no wings. It goes exactly where the wind blows it. If the wind blows east (a trend, a social pressure), it goes east. If the wind stops, it falls.
Chaotic Descent: A leaf flutters violently but inevitably heads downward. Its movement is just a delayed fall. Living like a leaf means living reactively—constantly shifting direction based on what others want or what the news says, with no true destination.
The Bird (The Navigator):
Internal Control: A bird feels the wind, but it does not obey it. It can fly against the wind, or use the wind to glide towards a specific target. It has an internal will that overrides external conditions.
Purposeful Ascent: A bird defies gravity through effort. It goes somewhere specific. It has a map. Living like a bird means having a "Why" that is stronger than the "Weather."
The golden rule: "Do not confuse movement with progress."
Just because you are busy (fluttering like a leaf) does not mean you are going anywhere. You might just be falling in circles.
As Hermann Hesse wrote in Siddhartha: "Most people... are like a falling leaf that drifts and turns in the air, flutters, and falls to the ground. But a few others are like stars [or birds] which travel one defined path: no wind reaches them, they have within themselves their guide and path."
Reflection on autonomy: Look at your last month. Did you do things because you chose them (Bird) or because they just "happened" to you or were expected of you (Leaf)?