It started out of the blue one day when a myna decided to perch on my balcony. In a moment of kindness, I decided to throw little bits of dog food to it. To my surprise it ate the dog food and brought a friend the next day. In that manner, these two myna became regular visitors and I named them Tom and Jerry.
Tom and Jerry were initially very wary of me. I respected their cautiousness and would throw food further away from me. Perhaps that helped the development of trust in them. Gradually, I left the food nearer and nearer to me. After a while, they trusted me and would accept food from my hand.
One day Tom didn't appear for his breakfast and I thought something bad happened to him. Then he reappeared after a period of time but brought along a baby bird! Then I realize, Tom is female.
Tom would always feed her baby before eating anything herself. But when the baby grew up, Tom would intentionally ignore the baby's squawking. That demonstrated the 2 type of metta to me.
I think metta and giving can help us make new friends. At the same time, Tom and Jerry also taught me that it is okay to remain cautious and wary with people in a friendship.
