Gratitude: Bird Songs in the Evening
By Corrina Steward, Green Monkey Guest Blogger
Feeling gratitude can be as easy as noticing the natural rhythms of life. Nature can show us how to be grateful. When I was growing up in New England one of my favorite pastimes was sitting on our back porch at sunset. There was a field abutting our backyard that captured my imagination every evening. The birds loved that field. In the spring, ponds would form making it a marshy wetland. Blue herons would wade in the “ponds” fishing for frogs.
In the summer, the field would light up with fireflies and chirping insects. The swallows would swirl in and out of the grass enjoying an evening meal. In the fall, I’d watch as the blackbirds would line up in troops sorting and munching on seeds. In winter, the crows would fly hauntingly about the snowy field scavenging for food.
Among this display of feeding, occasionally, the mocking bird would arrive. It would perch on a pine tree bordering the field. It would sing—mimicking every bird song it knew. It would create this beautiful symphony for the scene unfolding in the field.
Now, as an adult I see how much my own life flows with the tides of nature. Like the birds, each season brings a new interaction with life. In the spring, I wade through the density of mud and water and set new goals for coming out of hibernation. In the summer, I rejoice in the beauty that surrounds me and believe in all possibilities.
Now, as fall tumbles in, like the blackbirds, I’m doing my own sorting of seeds. What is worth chewing on? What will I disregard?
This winter, I’m putting gratitude at the top of my list. I’ve long kept a daily journal of what I’m grateful for. What started as a basic recording of daily gifts—a roof over my head, food, waking every day—evolved into a recording of deeper insights.
I notice patterns, messages from the divine, truths about myself and the world. Most of all, my daily recordings allow me to see that underlying everything in life is a powerful impulse to give and receive (or receive and give). By noticing what I receive (e.g., love, beauty, friendship) I have become more open to give and receive more.
It is this lesson in gratitude that recently brought me back to those evenings with the birds. My father often sat with me. One day when the mocking bird showed up, and the swallows flooded the field, he said, “Listen, he is singing for joy.” Even the birds understand that it is important to pause and notice the joy in receiving and giving.
Honoring this cycle is what keeps the field full of sustenance and what will keep each of our evenings filled with song.
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