THERE’S A BLUE JAY In The Pines
THERE’S A BLUE JAY In The Pines; And Other Little Things: Many of us know from experience how important it can be to take daily care of our mental health, our wellness and well-being. Personally, I have dealt with a couple major bouts of depression, and lingering issues from ADHD, dyslexia and frequent failures as a child and young person. Not to mention the constant challenges and sometimes major difficulties and losses of adulthood. So I have learned–and keep being required to re-learn–some simple things about well-being and mental health. And one of them is to notice–as I just did this morning–that there is a blue jay hollering in the pines.
Or a swan trumpeting on the river. Or the first chipmunk of spring scampering about. Or the first woodchuck shaking off the lethargy of winter and exploring the yard. Or a dozen or a hundred other things. Does it do the blue jay or the chipmunk any good to be noticed by me? Well, I think so. I (we) feed them, after all. And maintain their habitat. And I am fond of the poet’s verse, ‘And ’tis my faith that every flower enjoys the air it breathes.’ (Wordsworth, Lines Written In Early Spring)). But the main significance is probably what this ‘noticing’-does for me. It’s not complicated. Truly noticing–taking ‘note’ of–such things (a sunrise, a birdsong, the direction of a breeze) puts me in touch with stuff beyond my mind and my troubles. Real stuff. The stuff of life. The stuff of the Lakota invocation, ‘Mitakuye Oyasin’, ‘All My Relations.’
This noticing reminds me how connected, and interconnected, I am. To great, cosmic things on the scale of light years, and to tiny, individual, personal things, like a blossoming bloodroot or trillium. Or a neighborhood toddler holding hands with a parent as they cross the street.
And that’s it, really. No great actions or personal improvement projects required. Just a humble understanding of context. Of who and what and where we are.
This is important at all times. In every life. If we intend to be well. But it is vitally important in this time. When our fundamental values and bedrock beliefs are challenged and assaulted daily. By the government that supposedly represents us. And we feel called upon to respond. And care. And help. And change things. Daily. And we should. And we do, as best we can. But we get tired. And worn down and discouraged. At least some of us do. And then it can be extra important to notice the blue jay. The brightness of his colors. The grace of her movements. The variety of their vocalizations.
Are they extraordinary beings, the blue jays? Oh, absolutely they are! Because they are rare or unusual? No. Just because they are inherently extraordinary. As are so very many things in this world. And because noticing them, and perhaps saying a quiet ‘hello,’ or ‘thank you’, reminds us that we all are. Extraordinary. You and I. And ‘all our relations.’ And in noticing that, and remembering it, and in ‘enjoying the air we breathe’–with no other agenda–we can feel better. Refreshed. Connected to things beyond our problems, and our worries about them.
Do the problems go away? No. But in stepping away from them–even briefly, into another dimension of being and belonging–we can return more able to do something, even some small, humble thing. For the blue jays. For ourselves and our wounded country. For all our relations.
There is a blue jay in the pines. He’s beautiful. And that’s enough to make me smile.
(This column also appears on my Substack platform. You can support/subscribe to me there at Notes From The Campfire@douglaswoodauthor. https://substack.com/@douglaswoodauthor)