One of my birthday presents was a tiny book about "mindfulness" and "birdwatching." It certainly made interesting reading. But not always for the right reasons. Here's one of the "things" wot was in it ... BIRD NAMES Success! Got it ! You have identified the bird ... a new one not seen before. Your suspicions had been raised when you glimpsed it in a bush : you had noted the size and colour, the bill shape and wing markings, the way it appeared and behaved ( its "jizz" in the language of birding) ..enough to pin it down later, in the guidebook, and give it a name. The thrill of such a moment is known to every birdwatcher. The need to name things stems from a deep urge to understand the world, which is our home, in all its rich diversity; to recognise and respect other creatures as fellow mortals, and by naming them to acknowledge their unique individuality. Even the earliest writers of the Bible recognised the human need to identify things, believing that God commanded Adam, the first man, to name all the creatures. The human urge to understand the world comes from our not wanting to sleepwalk through life, ignoring the environment that surrounds us as though it was irrelevant to daily life, but instead wishing to be mindful and engaged with the rest of nature. We may also suspect that we have a responsible role to play in the time we have on the planet. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That's all very well, but there's lots of things I could pick holes in. Partly because we have a deep urge to to pick holes in things, and do lots of other stuff too, like starting and participating in wars and crime and destruction. If he thinks humankind is a good idea .... he might be wrong. I strongly suspect that far more bad than good has been done by the "Human Race" to this Earth of "ours"..... which it isn't. Plus ... all those "creatures" in the bible he mentions ... I reckon they were only bothered about three sorts of animal ..... the ones they can eat. ..... the one they can exploit for their own purposes. .... the ones that are dangerous. The author is full of other wacky ideas ...like going out birdwatching without your binoculars. Apparently we can then "experience the birds around us without magnification, share the scene with them, and we are all, human beings, birds, wind and sky, part of the same living moment. We become more aware of ourselves as part of the world, more mindful of the mystery of our own being." Fairy Nuff .... now here's a bit of music from that Alain Souchon ... .. and while we're at it, "humankind" is entirely the wrong word.
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AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
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