birdwatching saved my life
Like many people, my view of birdwatching ("birding") and its practitioners were neutral at best, holding their stereotypical focal gear, donning vests and hats.
I learned that my friend casually did it on his walks and stuff, and was able to identify birds. That was cool, and made the hobby a bit more approachable for me.
It wasn't until COVID when I saw a pair of cute yellow birds in the tree. Because the leaves haven't grown in yet, I was able to watch them fly around the tree, landing in different spots, and ultimately move on to other spots. I was so mesmerized, I thought I had just seen a legendary pokemon. I immediately went to google, and found that it was an American Goldfinch.
It wasn't really easy to find though. Google took me down an old-web looking site with the title "Birds of Ontario". I had to go through multiple tries to find its name and read more about it. (I can't find the site now, but goes to show a failure in Google's search. Ideally, it would've routed me to the Cornell Lab much sooner. They have a huge number of resources for bird identification, information, pictures, and much more. I especially like their Merlin App and eBird. I really admire the work they're doing down there. Here's a link to a random bird species.)
Anyways, I soon got the Merlin app, and found that they do Sound ID, which is a serious game changer. It meant that I didn't even have to see the birds, and it could be identified for me. Anytime and anywhere I heard a chirp, I habitually reach for my phone and start to look around, looking like the dog from up when he sees a squirrel. Once those bird thumbnails started to pop up, I would get really excited and search even harder. I felt accomplished when I could see and hear them!
I found a path next to a stormwater runoff creek near my house that was less traveled. I noticed that bird sounds were coming from the other side, the side of the creek that wasn't even paved. It turned out that there was even more wildlife on that side! It felt like I had my own secret getaway where I could get super close to some rare birds. (Merlin has information on the rarity of bird sightings based on location. It felt really snagging an Uncommon or Rare sighting on a regular afternoon. Same neuron activation as opening a 6 star waifu.)
I distinctly remember the first time I saw a Rose Breasted Grosbeak, an American Redstart, a Scarlet Tanager, a Cedar Waxwing, an Indigo Bunting, and more. Aren't they all so cute??? All of them bring back really fond memories of when I saw them.
This made my walks addicting. I would frequently take 30-45 minute walks in the middle of the work day. If I woke up early, I would head there. If i was particularly stressed, I would start the walk.
How did it save my life?
Well it forced me to practice "voluntary simplicity". This is when we choose to live a more simple life. Jon Kabat-Zinn introduced me to this concept in "Wherever You Go, There You Are" (highly recommend):
I like to practice voluntary simplicity to ... make sure nourishment comes at a deep level. It involves intentionally doing only one thing at a time and making sure I am here for it... Voluntary simplicity means going fewer places in one day rather than more, seeing less so I can see more, doing less so I can do more, acquiring less so I can have more.
When I was birding, I couldn't be doing anything else. The birds would literally fly away. I couldn't even take my mind off it for a second.
Another example is from a friend, who claims a similar phenomenon with mountain biking - losing focus could mean losing your life.
Living simply in these moments allowed me to just exist. It didn't demand anything from me, it didn't judge me, it didn't challenge me, it didn't stress me out. It gave me headspace to reflect, put things into perspective, and instilled a deep appreciation for nature and birds. Without it, I wouldn't know how I'd survive, and might've found less healthy ways of coping with what life threw at me.
So, it goes without saying that I strongly recommend birding. Above that, though, I recommend anything that allows you to practice awareness and to just exist. Life seriously gets better when you're existing, and not thinking, dwelling, ruminating.