Our Fingerprint
“Bird nests come in all shapes and sizes…despite their overall similarity, the fine details of these nests identify their makers as surely as a fingerprint.”
-from Bird by David Burnie
My study of birds and what their nesting behaviors have to teach us about building our individual lives began one day as I waited in a line to collect my family’s dinner. The take-out window was several cars in front of me, so I had a minute.
A fluttering movement outside the car window captured my scattered attention. It was a plump dove landing amid a group of doves, all different shades of gray, on a wire suspended between two electrical poles. The scene intrigued me, and watching these small creatures provided such rest for my harried brain that I could scarcely take my eyes off of them.
They looked like stone statues perched on that wire; intense stillness. Every now and then one of them would break rank and fly to a nearby tree. It suddenly occurred to me that the doves were building a nest there.
Their achieved stillness enabled them to focus on usable nesting materials, gather them in their beaks, and transport them to the nest to be worked into the design. I had always admired birds as builders and now realized that their finely honed building skill had, at its root, the intense stillness I had just witnessed.
After that encounter, I studied birds and their nesting behaviors for years just for the sheer pleasure of it. I collected tools from my birding research to apply to my own life; useful things like intuition, hunting, gathering, focus, building, identifying predators, soul flight, colony living, the enigma of the empty nest, and finally, song. All this wealth from the root of stillness.
Stillness
Instinct
Focus
Gathering
Building &
Rebuilding
Flight
Creativity
Identifying Predators
Colony Living
Empty Nest
Song
Nesting Twigs
“Every human being is under construction from conception to death.” -Billy Graham
If you have ever seen a blueprint of a building you will have some understanding as to the detail involved in construction. It’s no different in building a life. A life blueprint is composed of well defined spaces which blend to create the structure we live within. Here are just a few spaces to explore in our twig building venture…
Inner Space
No one sees our inner space; not even us. But it contains the pieces of who we are, who we really are, and those pieces will migrate to our actions whether we want them to or not. It’s a law of nature.
We act everyday as we live our lives. That’s why the things (thoughts, beliefs, attitudes) we accumulate and arrange in our inner space is important. That space can be a mine of valuable gems like spirituality, integrity, honesty and gratitude or it can be a cesspool of hate and shame. In any case our actions originate in that space.
I’m fastidious about sorting through my inner space every day to make sure what I have allowed in is conducive to living a wholehearted life. I eschew things which suck the dopamine out of my brain and leave me agitated. I fill my inner space with what I consider beautiful and useful: an intelligent conversation, a thought provoking podcast, a sublime concert.
The ability to filter the building materials we house in our inner space is a privilege.
Home Space
One thing I learned while studying birds and their nesting art is that the strongest, most comfortable nests are the ones built with the greatest amount of careful intention. They are not the scrapes in the ground or the twigs just thrown together.
Designing a home should be intentional. It is our resting place, our respite, our recuperation from the world we of necessity inhabit when we walk out that front door. It should be a place filled with comfortable furniture, books we love, colors and sounds that make our hearts sing.
Take the time to be intentional when arranging your home. Peruse books, magazines, videos to collect ideas of what you love and implement those things in your living space. You won’t regret it. Intention pays huge dividends when it comes to our surroundings.
Table Space
I like every aspect of table spaces including place settings, floral arrangements and unique place cards, but the main event is always the food. Food is life and love to humankind. The first thing I do when I hear good news (like a birth) or bad news (like an illness) is cook a meal to celebrate or comfort. That said, here is a great recipe for celebration, comfort, or just dinner tonight.
Chicken Pot Pie
- 2 frozen pie crusts
- 1 cup cooked diced chicken
- 1/2 cup cooked peas
- 1/2 cup cooked carrots
- 1/2 onion
- 2 toes garlic
- 1/3 cup butter
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/3 tsp. pepper
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 3/4 cup milk
- Defrost crust on counter and poke holes in one crust with a fork
- Melt the butter in a large pan
- Cook the onion and garlic in the butter
- Add the flour to the mixture and cook until well blended and just beginning to brown
- Add the milk slowly until blended
- Add the the broth slowly
- When well blended, add the salt and pepper
- Add the vegetables and chicken
- Cut the other pie crust in strips and use for lattice top.
- Bake at 350 for 30 to 45 minutes
Garden Space
“A garden requires patient labor and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambition or to fulfill good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them.” – Liberty Hyde Bailey
Gardening is labor intensive and time consuming so I started small because I didn’t have a lot of time or energy to devote. If you have a garden in front of your home or space on a small deck or balcony, that’s a great place to begin.
Look around your neighborhood community to ascertain what is growing profusely. Those plants are the ones which probably grow well in your climate. Incidentally, be prepared to make new friends through gardening. Gardeners are the friendliest and most generous people you’ll ever encounter.
Some vigorous growers in my area are impatiens, begonias and knock-out roses. If you like ordered drama, try planting a bed of one flower in the same color. It’s stunning even in white. Or flowers can be layered in horizonal lines by color or colors and textures can be mixed for a cheerful display. Find pictures to drool over and copy.
I dream and design my gardens in the middle of winter when I’m hemmed in by the damp cold and gray sky. It’s what gets me through…