First Bird

It’s time for our midweek turnaround. a brief, gentle turning practice to orient you to what matters. It includes a prompt for a meditative activity for disentangling from the default American mindset and connecting more closely with yourself and your surroundings. You may find it helpful to have a journal at hand, but it’s not required. I hope these practices of body and heart bring you peace and connection in the middle of whatever storm is blowing around you at the moment. Today’s newsletter is the first in my series about connecting with and learning from birds.

If you haven’t noticed by now, I love to see meaning and symbolism in the world around me. I read the world like it’s scripture, like it’s a love letter to us. I suppose you could argue that plants and birds don’t think twice about us, which would be easy to believe because we rarely think twice about them. Or you could say I’m imposing human meaning on the existence of other living creatures. You might be right. But consider this: when you make meaning with language, it does not really come from individual words, but the unique way you string them together in a sentence. Meaning isn’t just in the words themselves, but it hangs between them like a string of lights connecting them.

First bird

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I believe our deeper meaning and purpose is in that connection, not just between words, but between beings—human and nonhuman alike. When we pay attention to others, we learn about ourselves. We find our place in the larger life story unfolding on our planet since time began. So, this week, we’re going to do a little casual, low stakes ornithomancy. We're going to connect with and learn from birds.

My inspiration comes from a good friend watches for the first bird she sees on her birthday. Whatever bird it is tells her something about the coming year. It’s not a precise science. There aren’t specific meanings for specific species or anything like that. It’s more about the personality of the bird and the circumstances of her encounter with it.

So, that’s your task for this week! Watch out for the first bird you see. We’ll be a little less ambitious than my friend—we’ll let the bird teach us about the week ahead rather than a full year.

Are you ready? Here’s what you’re going to do when you spot the bird: just observe the bird. You don’t have to do any research. You don’t even need to know what kind of bird it is. Just prompt yourself to observe with questions like these:

• Where is the bird? In the sky? On the ground? In the water?

• What is it doing? Eating? Hopping? Flying?

• Is it making noise?

• What does its disposition appear to be at the moment? Is it in a hurry? Is it still and/or sleepy?

• Does it see you or interact with you?

Then, ask yourself some questions:

• What seems familiar to you about this bird?

• What about it makes your heart leap or warm a bit? Its song? Its hop? Its flight? Its scavenging or hunting? Its rest? Its interactions with you?

You likely recognized activities that have parallels in your own human life. That is what we are best equipped to see. So, what about the bird reminds you of your own life? What is different? If it's rest, think of the bird when you rest. How is your rest similar or different? That is your focus or theme for the coming week, to consider the bird in your activities for the week and, as always, to notice.

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