Birds sing for many different reasons and with a complexity that we humans often think we as a species alone possess in our communication patterns.  We sometimes overlook the beauty of other species because of their gentle existence that seems to blend into the background seamlessly.  Birds sing to communicate their location, warn predators, attract a lover or mate and, in the case of a chick, will chirp mostly for some nourishment from Mommy, just like human babies when they cry.  Some humans study and follow the patterns of their songs, and musician and philosopher David Rothenburg discovered that they respond when they hear music and feel safe to join in.  He chronicles his fascinating experience in a book and audio disc of his recordings:  Why Do Birds Sing ~ A Journey Into the Mystery of Bird Song.  You can read about how one bird picks up African bird songs along its migratory route and sings them in the marshes of Europe or as canaries learn new songs new neurons appear in the brain.  He asserts that "...birds sing for the same reason humans do: because they can, and because they must."

Here we will explore how bird songs give us as pointers for living:

Animals do not exist on this earth for us to dominate.  We do the animals, ourselves, and the planet a great disservice to maintain such a narrow view of their existence.  They are here for the overall good of the whole.  If we dominate them we cause harm and in our own lives miss out on the amazing potential for learning and growth we have in the ability to observe them.  They are a light, a beacon of energy, that we can use as a guide for our spiritual path.  They simply live in their own design and do not get caught up in mind chatter as we do.  Our mind is such an important tool for our survival, but it can take over our every day living quite easily, especially in the frenetic world we live in today.  Animals can guide us away from too much mind stuff.  We can use them as an example to ruminate our own existence.  Today, let us use birds as our guides into ourselves.  Move inward with me.

One of my favorite quotes of all time is from the Ancient Orient and while meditating on this quote, I got the inspiration for this article:

"A bird does not sing because it has an answer.  It sings because it has a song."

Do you sometimes speak to others as if you have the answers?  Perhaps you limit yourself to communicating with people who are like you and agree mostly with your philosophies?  Do you keep your philosophies to yourself when you are around others who you think might reject you?  Maybe you find yourself limiting your desires and potential  for fear that your peers will be uncomfortable with you?

Or do you listen and open yourself up to conversations with others that might stretch your boundaries and enhance your life experience?  Consider taking a gentle approach without confrontation or ego sparring and sing your spirit's song.  It does not mean you have the answer, it just means you are singing.  Whatever reactions you get are simply others' songs.  The more we can accept others' songs for what they are and keep moving along our own trajectory without reacting or letting it hinder our own spiritual progress, the more in tune we sing.  Our pitch becomes refined and we find ourselves living our lives purpose without "thinking" to much about it.  It takes only a little bit of practice.

I do not write and put my words out to the general public because I think I know what they need or because it makes me feel important.  I do not have the answer.  I am on my own life's journey and continue to learn every day, so to think that I am writing something definitive would be doing myself and all my readers a great disservice.  I write because I feel compelled to, and like the bird, I must.

Imagine yourself as the bird today.  Or go outside and just watch and listen to birds for awhile.  Of course the spring time is best for this, but fall usually brings upon some singing since the sunlight, which prompts the singing, is similar to and sometimes mimics that of spring.  As summer winds down and fall approaches, see yourself as the bird and listen to the birds around you.  Listen to the humans around you as though they were simply birds singing, and join them in the chorus because you can, and because you must.

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