Something profound happened to me this past week that made me reflect deeply on how people perceive us and interpret our intentions.

Last week, I shared the above picture in a video on my Facebook page. The post also had two photos of me in same video. Shortly after, a friend—someone with whom I’ve previously shared many ideas and relied on for their clarity of vision—expressed surprise at my post. They remarked that it seemed as though I was “showing off” on the internet. To say that this comment deeply affected me would be an understatement. I have always preferred to live my personal life under the radar, so the idea that my post could be interpreted this way was quite unsettling.

Throughout the day, I kept pondering this reaction and seeking more insight, I asked another close friend what they thought the saying meant. Their response shocked me further: they interpreted it as a contrast between people born into wealth (the caged birds) and those who can “fly” without worrying about their next meal.

This exchange left me perplexed and made me realize why these two individuals particularly often misinterpret my intentions. We frequently found ourselves at odds because our perspectives are fundamentally different. Curious to explore this further, I asked my daughter for her thoughts. She explained that being “born in a cage” symbolizes being raised in an environment of limited perception. This explanation resonated deeply with my own understanding.

To gain even more clarity, I turned to ChatGPT, which provided this interpretation:

This saying suggests that people who grow up in restrictive or oppressive environments may see freedom as unnatural or even dangerous. It speaks to how conditioning shapes perception—if someone has only known limitation, they might not recognize liberation as a possibility or may even fear it. It can apply to various aspects of life, like societal norms, toxic relationships, or limited beliefs.

Sine qua non! This perfectly captured what I intended when I made my post on Facebook.

This experience reaffirmed an important truth: people interpret things through the lens of their own experiences and conditioning. Their perception of us is often shaped more by their own limitations than by our actual intentions.