Perhaps you've wondered how the chicken crossed the road? It's not every day that you'll see a chicken crossing the road. There is likely much that we can all learn from taking a closer look at the life of the proverbial chicken.
Let's call our chicken Edna. Research on Edna's life shows that she grew up as many chickens do in a traditional co-op style-housing unit at the side of the road. Edna was raised with her parents in one of the small box-like apartments within the co-op and for the first few years of her life, Edna lived the kind of life that was expected of a chicken.
Edna was expected to wake up every day and go to work, just like all of the other chickens. One of her first duties of the day was to produce one or two eggs. This made her parents very proud, particularly if they could brag to the other chicken parents that their child had produced more eggs than the other chicken children.
Once her egg-laying mission for the day was accomplished, Edna would be allowed into the yard to eat, play and socialize with the other chickens. However, there are very clear rules for how chickens must behave. They must not violate the 'pecking order' of the group. All chickens are taught from a very young age not to 'go against the grain' or to be different from the group.
At night, Edna would return to her apartment to sleep and her routine would repeat again the next day and the next day and the next. Days became years and soon the sameness of her life began to bother Edna. She began to wonder if there wasn't more to her life than her egg-laying existence within the co-op. It was also around this time that Edna began to notice the sound of music coming from somewhere, music that she could feel in her heart, music that caused her to start dancing.
She began to dance in her room at night. Edna loved the feeling of strutting her chicken stuff around the room and quickly realized that she felt far more excited about dancing than she did about laying eggs. It was a Saturday evening when she had an "Aha" moment while listening to these lyrics from the song Flashdance, 'find your passion and make it happen'. She didn't want to lay eggs any more, she'd found her passion and knew that she wanted to become a dancer.
Edna approached her parents with her dream. Their response was not what Edna had hoped. "What!!? You're a chicken!! Chickens don't dance, they lay eggs!! Every other chicken in this co-op lays eggs, they don't dance. Get that crazy idea out of your head." Edna was disheartened so she spoke to her best friend, Lois, about her dream.
Edna had always admired Lois because she lived life on her terms. Lois was a bit of a free-range spirit you could say. She'd ventured outside the co-op a few times over the years, doing things that most chickens would be too afraid to try. Apparently she had even hooked up with a band of wild turkeys at one point and lived like a wandering gypsy for a year.
Lois simply said to Edna: "Honey, if laying eggs ain't rocking your world but dancing is, then you gotta dance." Lois then went on to tell Edna that there was more than one side of the road and that she didn't have to spend her entire life in this co-op, on this side of the road. This thought intrigued Edna. She began to imagine what life on the other side of the road might look like? She later realized that the music she'd been hearing for quite some time, the music she'd been dancing to, had been coming from somewhere on the other side of the road. Lois egged her on a bit more: "Honey, if you wanna dance then you gotta go where the music is." In that moment, Edna knew that she needed to cross the road.
Edna's decision quickly spread throughout the co-op. No-one believed that she could dance. No one believed that she'd be able to cross the road. No chicken from their co-op had ever crossed the road before. Everyone thought that Edna was being a very foolish chicken.
By this time Edna had spent several years of her life laying eggs and living the traditional chicken lifestyle, which wasn't bringing her happiness. She wanted to dance. It didn't matter what others thought anymore. She intuitively knew that any chicken could achieve whatever it wanted to in life. And she intuitively knew that the fulfillment of her dancing dream resided on the other side of the road. Edna decided that she would cross the road the next day.
She went to bed with a heart filled with excitement and anticipation. She was about to venture towards her dream!! She would never lay another egg ever again. She would only be laying out some fancy dance moves. Edna slept soundly that night before awakening to some questions of her own the next morning.
"Can I really do this? I've never known another chicken who's become a dancer. What if I don't make it across the road? I'm not even sure how to cross a road!" Every chicken can be a bit chicken at times.
Then Edna began to hear that familiar sound again...music coming from the other side of the road. She smiled and grabbed her suitcase for it was time to go.
She hugged her parent's goodbye and told them not to worry. In her heart she knew that they understood her decision, they'd always told her that they wanted her to be a happy chicken. Edna headed to the side of the road and looked across but couldn't see anything in the distance. She could only hear the music.
Edna took a deep breath, left the familiar co-op behind and stepped onto the road. She took her first few steps slowly, until she felt comfortable. "Wow, I did it! I'm crossing the road!! And I'm okay." Edna kept on crossing the road. She did stop a few times along the way to rest and gather her thoughts. She wasn't sure how long it would take to cross the road. In the end, it took her a bit longer to cross than she'd expected and she had a few surprises along the way too. No one told her that there would be something called 'cars' on the road!
Nonetheless, Edna The Chicken, made it across the road. When Edna reached her final destination on the other side of the road she was amazed at what she saw. It was even better than she'd imagined.
She was greeted by a rainbow, colourful birds and fluffy white clouds in the sky and happy, free-ranging chickens everywhere. She also met several other chickens who'd crossed the road and realized their dreams too such as Foghorn Leghorn, Chicken Little and The Little Red Hen. And the music continued to play, her music, the music she'd been listening to for a long time. Edna was eggstatic to finally be on the other side of the road.
She began to dance. And dance. And dance. She danced all day and all night. Nothing could stop her from dancing. She was as happy as a chicken could ever be. She's realized her dream. In fact, Edna became quite famous for her dancing, eventually having a dance named after her. It's called The Chicken Dance
and it is a celebratory dance enjoyed by chickens and people all around the world. Imagine!!? Not only did Edna dance but she became a World-famous dancing chicken!!
The story doesn't end there however for Edna was also a very helpful sort of chicken. She wanted other chickens to know that they didn't have to settle for the egg-laying life if they didn't want to. And that they could also cross the road. So, she sent a letter back to her friends and family at the co-op: "Hey chickens! I have eggsciting news! Chickens can do more than lay eggs! We can dance! We can cross roads! We can do whatever we set our minds to!"
The next time that you hear that question, "Why did the chicken cross the road?", think of Edna and the legacy that she left behind. Not only for chickens, but for the chicken within each of us.
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Biography
