Tag: birdsong

Robin Blessings

Early one morning this summer, a robin landed on our deck railing and sat looking out at the nearby woods. I stood quietly on the other side of the glass doors and watched her watching. I truly believe that that robin loved what she was seeing as much as I did. Together we wove the world into being—living energy pouring from our eyes and hearts. Her song was her prayer of gratitude; mine is in the words I write here.

Every day it is the birds that welcome me on my morning walks, their songs and calls surrounding me as I look up at the trees and sky. Cardinals, goldfinches, song sparrows, Carolina wrens, blue jays, chickadees, mourning doves. And robins, especially robins. I always stop and listen when I hear one singing in a tree next to the path. Often s/he focuses a bright eye on me and then companionably continues singing. I stand in silence, smiling, and my heart sends out loving appreciation in response. These feelings carry me through the day and sometimes later emerge in what I write in a blog. It is the robin’s blessing that has engendered everything. 

Thus is life born, with birdsong, throughout the year, around the world. In Illinois, where I grew up, the first robins appearing after their migration northward were the harbingers of the coming of spring. We always looked forward to their arrival. Many robins overwinter in Illinois now, as they do here in Massachusetts. Entire flocks of them sometimes fill the trees in late winter or spring. And I still feel a thrill of anticipation when I hear their first spring songs in March or April. A sweet prelude to the arrival of thousands of songbirds migrating north from the tropics annually and creating visible and invisible connections wherever they fly and later nest.

For some reason, known only to the heart and soul, birds always lift my spirits and bring me great joy. In their variety of colors and songs, they fill the world with lightness and a sense of the interrelatedness of all life. Indeed, it was with a robin that I first experienced oneness as I sat quietly in my parents’ backyard. The robin flew past me and landed in the grass close by. We looked at one another, eyes meeting, and suddenly all sense of subject and object vanished, no “I” and “not I.” There was no thought at all. Just Being, Presence, within which the robin and I were one, along with everything else. Unforgettable.

Emily Dickenson likened birds to hope, and other poets throughout the years have chosen birds as metaphors for life’s deepest moments. I can’t imagine my own life without them. Indeed, their presence is an essential part of the fabric of living, in every season of the year. When I first open my eyes in the morning, my ears reach out to hear birdsong. Even before dawn in spring and summer, robins are singing. In the evening as well. Theirs is the musical blessing that begins and ends each day.

Peace of Mind, Now

How do we find peace in troubled times? It can often feel impossible. Yet the soul is always at peace. The mind, on the other hand, can easily slip into recycling opinions about, or conflicts with, others or the world at large. Previous judgments or disagreements have laid down tracks in the mind, which facilitate high-speed train-of-thought trips if triggered by something from the outside. Perhaps a passing comment or behavior, the news, a memory. However it begins, the mental editorial debate continues and repeats in an almost unstoppable manner, unless we consciously intervene.

The nature of the mind tends toward problem-solving in which any perceived conflict is something that needs to be resolved by logical discourse. So the mind repeats and repeats potential responses meant to convince, change, or solve. At times, my mind-train travels down those tracks. A stranger’s seeming unkindness or a news item about some political discord can springboard my mind into action. I find myself in the midst of an imagined argument, trying to convince a nebulous or specific “other” of the necessity for (choose any or all) compassion, environmental protection, human rights, the end of guns and war, etc. The very idea of trying to convince others of the need for compassion seems fruitless and somewhat ridiculous if I pause for a moment. Actually, it all seems completely unnecessary in that paused moment. The Pause is key. As is repeating the Pause, one breath at a time, until the train is derailed.

How to do that? How to remember to invite the soul to take over instead, to bring peace to the mind’s agitation? It takes repetition and intention. And conscious interrupters, like walking outdoors, birdsong, music, yoga…whatever centers you in your heart (gateway to the soul) instead of the mind. The mind is useful for daily functioning in the material world, but it can get out of control, and it needs calming on a regular basis. Meditation serves that purpose as do quiet walks in Nature. Anything that silences the mind’s chatter and repetition of old recordings.

And the alternative to internal or external debate? Living the peace and compassion instead of arguing about it. When the mind is at peace, it is not moved to engage in disagreement, dissension, or judgment. A mind at peace is aligned with the soul, and the soul sees oneness not separation. In these turbulent times, we need every ounce of peace available—and it is always available when you remember to Pause.  In that moment, look up at the trees, the stars, the infinite universe around you—therein lies a soul peace that is beyond the mind’s understanding but will fill your heart and the hearts of all those you share it with.