I never gave much thought to birds as there weren’t that many where I grew up in Colorado. I can recall hawks and magpies… the first I really like, the others I do not.
Then, in Montana, there were a few more types of birds including hawks and magpies. Canada geese flew through in the fall. Plus some other brown birds… There were too many magpies. Did I mention, I do not care for those birds.
And then, I moved to Iowa… bald eagles, lots of hawks, owls, warblers, cardinals, starlings, house finches, trumpter swans and loads of Canada geese in the winter, some migrating pelicans, multiple types of woodpeckers, orioles in June… the list goes.
There are no magpies.
But there are redwing blackbirds, cowbirds, and bluejays.
I do not care for these birds. They dive bomb me on my walks (redwing blackbirds), poach the nests of other birds (cowbirds), and frighten the other birds away from the feeder (bluejays). How dare they?
So, what do these all these birds have to do with peace?
First, it’s easy to see the beauty… from the goldfinches, warblers, cardinals, woodpeckers, hawks, owls, and bald eagles. All exquisite.
Choosing peace is easy when it’s pretty…
The birds have also shown me that peace cannot be defined by beauty alone… Why don’t I like those other birds? They certainly bother me by interrupting my peaceful “walk through nature,” and they are mean to other birds. What’s there to like? Why are those birds the way they are? There are many explanations for their behavior as a result of their own environment.
Peace needs to be considered from multiple perspectives
Let’s dig a little deeper using this analogy of birds and peace… why were there no birds in my hometown of Colorado or Montana? I honestly never noticed the lack of birds in those places until I moved to Iowa where they are abundant.
Perhaps there are no birds in the mountains of the western US
or maybe, I was not paying attention.
I was focused on my own life. I was oblivious to anything outside of “my” world.
Peace needs us to be aware of our surroundings…
of the easy and the challenging
and to notsimply turn away from what we “do not like.”
My thoughts on birds as metaphors of peace are extensive. More than what we can address here today. Before I go, I want to share one other lesson learned from the birds. This one is from a recent trip to Shetland (July 2023).
I have long wanted to see the puffins… those cute little birds who spend approximately 8 months of the year at sea and then make their way to land in the summer to mate, watch over the eggs, and then a short stint with puffling rearing before all leave and head back to sea. They are the cutest!
Puffin at Sumbrugh Head, Shetland, UK
I’d been so captivated by images of puffins prior to my trip, I even planned out the colors for a sweater (aka jumper) inspired by the puffins.
I loved knitting this yoke as each combination of colors represented the puffins… the white, black, and orange of their bodies, the orange and pink duo reminded me of their feet standing in the blooming sea pinks, the green and the black reflective of their deep dives into the water for the “silvers” (small fish). That month in Shetland, I knit this yoke, each stitch symbolizing the interaction of the puffins with their environment.
While it was amazing to finally see them… it was a different bird that seemed to really speak to me. Also a black and white bird with orange accents called the oystercatcher. The puffin jumper became a story about the puffins and the oystercatchers.
Photo of artwork by Linda Richardson
And then I began seeing other birds… curlews, arctic terns, razorbacks, comorants, great skuas, wrens, fulmars… a whole new world of birds, one that I never could have imagined. The birds taught me the need to stay open to possibilities and that life isn’t about a grand plan…
I went to see the puffins yet learned to widen my gaze… to the land, sea, and sky.
The potential for peace is everywhere…
it’s not defined by beauty,
it’s easy and challenging,
exists in the calm as well as the storm,
and needs us to be open to possibility and alternative perspectives.
Peace nugget #2
Take some time today to watch some birds… up in the sky, in the trees, at a bird feeder, along a river, at the lake, or seaside. Allow yourself some slow time to watch.
Prompt: How might birds be teaching you something about peace?
Other:
Thank you so much for all your amazing comments yesterday. I read every single one of them … all 96 of them so far! This platform makes it challenging for me to comment yet please know that I am reading and smiling. This is a space of hope. Thank you.
Leave a comment every day and I’ll send you a little something at the end of our 21 day adventure.
Pattern: Roost pullover by Savory Knitting
Yarn: Jamieson’s and Smith 2-ply jumper weight