As I look back on 2022 and prepare for this next year, one word keeps popping into my head and that is COMMUNITY. My awareness for the community aspect of birding has always been acute, so acute that when I began to feel like I was birding differently than others I had to pause and figure out what that feeling was all about. My Slow Birding practice grew out of this feeling of wanting to belong but recognizing that the way I was enjoying and connecting with birds was not present in the larger birding community at the time.
It took a bit of courage and vulnerability to articulate those feelings and rebuild my birding practice. As I began to share my approach to birding, I found others who were searching for this same sort of belonging as well. So this year I’m really looking forward to focusing on community; on cultivating a community of bird observers who are courageous and vulnerable, curious and kind.
Here’s what professor and author Brené Brown writes about belonging,
“Belonging is the innate human desire to be part of something larger than us. Because this yearning is so primal, we often try to acquire it by fitting in and by seeking approval, which are not only hollow substitutes for belonging, but often barriers to it. Because true belonging only happens when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world, our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance.”
I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to feel welcomed in the birding community and how we can be better at creating and holding a space where everyone who enjoys noticing birds feels like they belong. I chose the photo at the top of this post because to me it represents how to set the scene for a gathering. When we choose to put out bird feeders, we’re setting up a place of gathering. We’re providing a variety of foods that will appeal to a diversity of birds. Maybe we’ve even been thoughtful enough to set those feeders up near some cover and we’ve provided water as well. We want to be able to enjoy the birds that gather, so we sit quietly, move slowly, adjust our behavior so the birds will feel both safe and welcomed.
We can and should do the same for each other.
We’ve come a long way with thoughful intentional gatherings that welcome BIPOC, LGBTQA+, and disabled folks to birding events and outings. I think we still have more work to do at this level, and we need to stretch into the acceptance of all approaches to birding - mindful birding, backyard birding, sit spot birding, slow birding, contemplative birding, and so on. Whatever modality that you embrace to connect with birds is valid! Going back to Brené’s quote, I think feeling like you belong in the birding community starts with dropping the struggle to fit into only one birding modality and finding our authentic birding selves!
Here are some questions I asked myself:
What do I value about birding?
What is my intent?
What is the result I want?
What brings me joy when I spend time noticing birds?
You may ask these questions about your birding in general. You may ask them each time you go birding or sit down to notice birds at your window. I’m curious, what other questions could we ask to get at to finding our authentic birding self? Feel free to share below in the comments.
Once we begin to get to know our birding selves a bit better, it becomes easier to find events, other individuals, and organizations where we feel like we belong.
This year I’ll be focusing on cultivating community by continuing my work with the Mindful Birding Network and by helping to get the Northern Vermont Feminist Bird Club off the ground with support from a new birder friend. AND, I’ll be starting a new membership Slow Birding Community which will launch later this winter. Many of you have taken a course with me and joined the private Slow Birding group I host on Facebook for course participants. With the growing toxicity on Facebook and other social media platforms and with many of you sharing that you don’t use Facebook, I’ll be migrating away from that platform this winter and creating a safe, thoughtful, and intentional space for folks to gather, share, and learn together. Full disclosure, there will a be a monthly or annual fee to join this space because I’ll be paying for use of the platform as a host. I’ll offset this with monthly perks in the form of content and programs that will only be available to members. More on that to come!
In the meantime, I’ll invite you to share below what you think about community and belonging as it relates to your own bird practice and your experience as a birder. What’s coming up for you?