Birds are great teachers. I learn so much from them, literally and metaphorically, every day. Attuning to birds often gives me new insights into life, with all its sweetness and uncertainty.
Birds live with constant uncertainty, and they make the most of sweetness where they find it. Consider the waxwing or the cardinal, making the most of winter berries in the snow. Or closer to my home, the hummingbirds who gather sweetness, despite there being less abundant flowers than there are in spring. Winter can be a time of great hardship for many birds, and for birds like crows, a time to gather in nightly roosts and find solace in community. They continue to sing in the stillness, and go about their precarious lives.
Solstice is a time of the longest night and shortest day, when the Earth’s poles are tilted farthest from the sun. Every culture has its way of celebrating this transitional time, and many cultures also recognize this time as a preparation for the harsh realities of winter. A time to gather, to take comfort in community, to give gifts as a way of honoring bonds. In times past, there was a great sweetness in celebrating amongst great uncertainties. This year feels like a time of great uncertainty…and the sweetness of life’s small moments and cherished gifts is not lost upon those who have lost much, and can no longer take for granted what they had before.
For me, the birds offer a way to think through life’s strange obstacles and opportunities. The hummingbirds remind me that there is sweetness among struggle, the phoebe makes such a valiant effort to stay nimble and catch what she may, the crow forages in the day, but always gathers with community in the night…for comfort, safety, and warmth. I suppose the greatest lesson for me is gratitude for the simple things, the small wonders, to focus on the sweetness available when all seems so precarious. When nothing is predictable, every moment is all the more precious. Birds seem to live with this palpable perception of focusing on what is available, and can be quite content in the moment.
Wishing you a Solstice full of possible sweetness, even among the uncertainty. May there be precious moments among precariousness of this winter.