Birding. Over the years it has given so much peace, pleasure, discovery. So much naked attention given in the woods, on the beach and marsh, etc. Always training the mind to see smaller and smaller differences and to remember details and past sights for comparison.
Why do I bird? There are alot of answers. But in total honesty, one of the unconscious motives is the need to escape. I wonder how many have felt the same motive? Unemployment? A difficult marriage or childhood home? stressful job? When we head out dressed for the weather of the day, we find a new sense of self in the hunt for birds. The life problems fade away for the time.
I improved my birding alot whilst unemployed. Eventually, I was good enough to work a low paying job counting birds several hundred miles from my home....escape.
Scanning the sky for flights of grebes and ducks was a group of us -- all escapees, except one. He was a successful bird photography who came to spend a few days with us hoping for a real rarity. He was the only extrovert among us and entertained us with a story about nearly dying in Antarctica and other bird-photographer adventures.
He told us how there are more good photos available than ever before and less money in the selling of the photos. However, the number of people with disposable income who want to be nature photographers has mushroomed. And so, they are increasingly the source of his income as he runs regular workshops throughout the year.
In a way, he was now marketing himself. His stories, his healthy gaunt body and weather beaten face, his clothes-for-all-weather style. He was living the dream as an all-out bird-photographer. For those dreaming of escape, here was an icon and a role-model, an escapee who turned his escape into a successful life. He really did make a name for himself selling photographs, but now he also sells stories and dreams.
Why do I bird? There are alot of answers. But in total honesty, one of the unconscious motives is the need to escape. I wonder how many have felt the same motive? Unemployment? A difficult marriage or childhood home? stressful job? When we head out dressed for the weather of the day, we find a new sense of self in the hunt for birds. The life problems fade away for the time.
I improved my birding alot whilst unemployed. Eventually, I was good enough to work a low paying job counting birds several hundred miles from my home....escape.
Scanning the sky for flights of grebes and ducks was a group of us -- all escapees, except one. He was a successful bird photography who came to spend a few days with us hoping for a real rarity. He was the only extrovert among us and entertained us with a story about nearly dying in Antarctica and other bird-photographer adventures.
He told us how there are more good photos available than ever before and less money in the selling of the photos. However, the number of people with disposable income who want to be nature photographers has mushroomed. And so, they are increasingly the source of his income as he runs regular workshops throughout the year.
In a way, he was now marketing himself. His stories, his healthy gaunt body and weather beaten face, his clothes-for-all-weather style. He was living the dream as an all-out bird-photographer. For those dreaming of escape, here was an icon and a role-model, an escapee who turned his escape into a successful life. He really did make a name for himself selling photographs, but now he also sells stories and dreams.