Lessons from Birds in Winter

Some people retire to the sun belt. But not me! I moved to the snow belt! I live near South Haven in Southwest Michigan, 12 miles from the big Lake. I moved from Chicago in the winter of 2017. My lovely summer home high on a bluff above tiny Munson Lake has become my full time home.

The snow has been a challenge and I sure am glad that I traded in my 2-wheel drive Prius for an all-wheel drive RAV4—a necessity when the snow packs the 1/2 mile dirt roads as that leads to my house. And much safer to drive when ice, whiteouts and spin outs make driving on I-196 and I-94 a dangerous adventure.

This year has been a bit unusual. We haven’t had a lot of snow here—until now. As I write this, I’m sitting in a comfortable chair next to the large sliding glass doors that lead to my deck. A respectable amount of the white fluffy stuff in piled up outside and the temperature is 14° F. The bird feeder is full, the suet cakes are in place and as is my winter practice a healthy amount of black sunflower seeds are scattered on the snow next to the sliding doors.

One of the pleasures of living here in the middle of a forest and in the back of the beyond is looking at the birds as they feast on the sunflower seeds and suet on my front deck. I love it and so and do my three kitties, Merlin the Magician, Glenda the Good Witch and Podsy. It’s Kitty TV for them. Right now it’s Merlin at the door, his head moving back and forth, his tail twitching as he waits to launch his sleek black body against the door pane in a futile, but exciting attempt to capture a bird in mid-flight.

The variety of birds is amazing. A flock of mourning doves, a trio of blue jays, a cardinal and his mate, downy, hairy and red-bellied woodpeckers, tufted titmice, dark-eyed juncos, and black-capped chickadees.

And the birds, they are amazing too. Think about it! When we go out in the snow and cold, we are bundled up from head to foot. Last Thursday, my furnace stopped working and you better believe that I was relieved when white-whiskered Jerry the heating man and his brother John arrived and got the heat back on.

But these birds, they survive with just their feathers and their very bare feet. Unlike us, they don’t need faux fur boots, insulated gloves, warm coats and mittens. 

This got me to thinking about the lessons birds can teach us. That thought led to a  Google search and to some websites with interesting—and very spiritual—insights on this topic. 

Here are the lessons from two of those websites.

I gleaned six life lessons from a site called Mind Fuel Daily (http://www.mindfueldaily.com/livewell/6-life-lessons-from-a-bird).

1. BE CONFIDENT: Birds learn to trust themselves before they take off in the sky. So have faith in your abilities and know that you will find a warm current to soar in.
2. LET YOUR COLORS SHINE: Different birds have hundreds of different hues. Be bright and make sure you aren’t hiding what makes you one-of-a-kind.
3. SHOW UP EARLY AND OFTEN: The legendary early bird gets the worm for a reason. So find something worth showing up for, and then show up every day.
4. GO WITH THE SEASONS: Birds thrive despite changes in their environment. Be fluid and go with the flow, trusting your ability to always find a branch to land on.
5. FLOCK TOGETHER: Birds seek strength and sustenance from one another. Keep friends and family close by as you navigate the days.
6. SPREAD YOUR WINGS: Eventually, all birds must leave the safety of the nest and become what they are meant to be. Have no fear of falling, and start flapping.

I discovered more intriguing lessons from the birds at the TryBelle Magazine website (https://www.trybellemag.com/3-lessons-we-can-learn-from-birds/). In a sunflower seed shell they are:

1. RELY ON YOUR INTUITION: Birds are not given instructions on how to build a nest. They rely on intuition and ‘knowing’ when building it.
2. TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS: How amazing would it be if we trusted our own instincts like the birds do, and created who we are based on instinct and ‘knowing’? We, like the birds, would create by listening to a part of ourselves that is omnipresent.
3. BE YOUR OWN CREATOR: We do not have any less ‘knowing’ capabilities or intuition than a bird does. The difference is that we have an ego… We possess the same ability as the bird to create something from nothing, allowing ideas and thoughts to guide our actions and behaviors.

Thinking about these lessons has raised my bird watching to an entirely new level. Now, every time I sit near the sliding doors overlooking my deck, I not only enjoy the beauty of my feathered friends, I contemplate the lessons of the birds in winter and vow to take these lessons with me throughout life and on all my Spiritual Traveler journeys.

So, I invite you to join me in contemplating these lessons from birds. Better yet! Feed the birds and discover how just watching these magnificent creatures will lift your soul and spirit.