By Elizabeth Herman | Posted: July 01, 2019
The small, simple things in life can be the greatest source of celebration. For most of my adulthood, feeding birds in the space immediately outside my home has given me something beautiful to look and listen for every day. By learning to attract my feathered friends, I live with their songs, brightly colored plumage, and the miracle of their (and my) tiny existence.
Urban closeness to nature
Closeness with nature can happen anywhere you live. Even in large cities, you can become close to nature by attracting birds with seeds, by walking and watching birds, and by noticing the earthly sounds and sights that surround you. Some of my family members live in a building in the city where the only place for a garden is the rooftop, so they grow plants and feed birds there.
A 2016 study shows that in some western countries, around half of all urban households put out food for birds on a regular basis. The author of the research states that “watching garden birds may provide people with a feeling of being connected to nature, contributing towards an increased sense of belonging in the natural world. How a person relates to nature (i.e. how connected they are) has been shown to be a strong predictor of environmental attitudes, and has been positively associated with subjective well-being and reduced anxiety.”
Healing the mind
Birdsongs play a role in alleviating anxiety, helping to increase alertness and creating space for more effective thinking and learning. In Amsterdam, airports place birdsong recordings in passenger lounges and waiting areas in order to calm the population, decreasing the chances for chaotic eruptions and fearful panic attacks. Businesses also use birdsongs to boost their brands, playing them in gas station bathrooms and bank branches.
Children in hospitals take injections with less fear, and children in school pay attention to lessons more readily after their lunch breaks, when the sounds of birds reach their ears. As Julian Treasure, a sound consultant puts it, “"People find birdsong relaxing and reassuring because over thousands of years they have learned when the birds sing they are safe, it's when birds stop singing that people need to worry. Birdsong is also nature's alarm clock, with the dawn chorus signalling the start of the day, so it stimulates us cognitively."
Sound and silence
Meditation and blessings teacher John Osborne says, “It is only in the past 100 years that the noise level of our common experience has begun to rise dramatically. To balance out all the noise and activity in today’s environment we may have to cultivate some silence in order to lower stress levels and give ourselves a chance to rest and recharge.” Becoming silent ourselves opens the way to hear the sounds of birds, the rustling of tree branches in the wind, and to accept all the natural activity that is going on around us.
The other day I was surfing on Facebook and I found this quote from a Mormon religious leader Terry Tempest Williams: “Once upon a time… there was the simple understanding that to sing at dawn and to sing at dusk was to heal the world through joy. The birds still remember what we have forgotten, that the world is meant to be celebrated.”
Welcoming the songs of birds into your life will bring joy, celebration, and wonder. Simple to access and almost unnoticeable until you choose to be aware of them, the birds you feed will begin to inspire gratitude in your heart for all that nature provides to you at no cost.
Even in winter
Whether you live in a city, a small town or village, or in the countryside, the birds can remind you of the rhythms of your day and of the innocent sounds of joy that celebrate nature constantly. In winter, when many birds migrate, some species are stragglers still looking for food amid snowstorms and blizzards. In fact, even after many birds leave the northern hemisphere, bird feeders can be vital for those small creatures left behind.
An Art of Silence program is available near you to jumpstart your practice of silence. Often taking place in natural, pastoral locations, group experiences of silence and being in nature can help you get in touch with birdsongs, and how to attract and feed birds in your daily life.
Enjoy feeding, watching, and listening to birds in nature. As you become more relaxed, alert, and aware, your own heart and mind will thank you!
By Elizabeth Herman - PhD in English, with concentrations in Rhetoric and Composition, and Literature, she offers writing support to clients, teaches locally, lives in Boone, NC, and volunteers for a better world.
