The Importance of Birding

When I went into treatment for alcoholism in February of 2005 I was off work for 6 months. I spent many hours working on my recovery and the 12 steps. But I found I needed something else. In recovery I realized that I had lost connection to the world and that while I needed to reconnect with people, friends and family, I needed to reconnect with the world first. And this involved, as Thich Naht Hahn states so eloquently, developing a sense of "deep looking".

For me "deep looking" involves not just seeing but using all my senses. It is an attempt to discern the authentic reality of the world at that very moment of observation. But it is more than that. It is for me an attempt to become one with the world.  I found that "oneness" through birding.

Birding is not just bird watching.  It is the "searching out" the anticipation of discovery. To be a birder involves not only looking at and for birds, but also understanding  their world.   You come to understand the differences between lake, stream, ocean, shore, wetland, prairie and forest.  It involves an understanding of weather; wind, rain, cold and warm fronts, thermals and the like. You come to know the edges between these habitats and who and what resides therein.  You come to know the seasons of the world as you return to favorite places over and over in summer, fall, winter and spring. You come to know what lives in these places at different times and different seasons. And there is a deep satisfaction  when you find what you are anticipating will be there, and I greet those birds and plants and animals like the old friends they have become. I greet them with wonder and with awe and I marvel at the majesty of all their journeys. Whether they have survived the winter in their chosen place, or whether they have they have survived their journey of thousands of miles.

Like fishing, it often takes me awhile to achieve "oneness".  Early on frequently, and even now occasionally I can't "see" anything when I get into the field.  I am too caught up in the stress of job and life itself.  I find I must slow down, take a deep breath, get into the moment, the present,  and just focus on the small things in order to see what's waiting for me.  The abnormal twitch of a leaf, a movement in the grass not related to the wind,  the subtle scratching in the leaf litter that leads me to know that "something" is there. It might be a bird or squirrel or deer.  I must join with the world in order to see and feel it.  For it is not just looking, it is listening, smelling, feeling the world around you.  I find that now, I spend less time looking through my binoculars and more time just looking and listening; being quiet and still and letting the world in through all my senses. I am a better birder because of it. 

I am a better person because of it.  I listen better, though there are times when I let old habits creep back in and I forget to focus on whom or what I am listening to.  But I am better, not perfect, but better.  Others notice when you are not focused on yourself.  When your focus is on the world around you, people say hello, strangers strike up conversations. You notice things on the street where you live that have always been there but have never caught your attention.  You lose your "separateness" and revel in the 'connections" to everything around you. It is in the connections where I find joy.  It is in the connections where I find god.

It takes practice to achieve this oneness with the world and I am still a work in progress but am frequently amazed at the results.  I see things I never saw before;  the Great Blue Heron that flies over the highway, the geese on the horizon, the deer that is "hidden" in the field watching me, watching him.  Sometime it takes awhile to learn where to look. Finding brown creepers and owls took awhile  and owls are still a problem but I continue to learn.

Initially, for the first 5 years I birded mostly alone.  And, I liked it that way.  It was a time to decompress and to learn. Now, I have a partner in both birding and life and birding with her is even more rewarding.  Initially Tammy had never birded but now she is really good at it and I love birding with her.  It is something we share together and that makes it even more special. I love showing her birds and I love it even more when she finds birds to show me, like the Great horned Owl with owlets she found recently.

So I have gone from total isolation in my alcoholic days (or daze), to regaining a sense of the world and all that is around me, and finally rejoining the human race as a joyous and hopefully helpful member. It didn't happen just because I became a birder but I don't think it would of happened if I hadn't become a birder.  It is the Journey that is important, not the endpoint.  I have discovered the joy in the journey and that has made all the difference.

Finally, birding has brought me closer to the love of my life and that is the most  important thing of all.

Oh, and for the record, as of today April 9th 2012, I celebrate 7 yrs 2months and 9 days of sobriety, one day at a time, one bird at a time.