I have struggled with depression for a solid decade now. It’s been a really interesting journey – some months are better than others – and often times people are surprised when I mention that I’m depressed because I’m a pretty bubbly person (it’s a thin veil).
I firmly believe that happiness is a choice but it’s also an endless battle. It’s not a prize that I win and get to keep forever; it’s waking up every day and choosing to not let depression pilot my day. Some days are tough, some days I win the fight, and some days the dread is so crippling that all I can do is lay in bed and cry, hoping that tomorrow will be better and hating myself for my unpredictable bouts of irrational despair.
No matter how bad it gets, I’m comforted – sort of peripherally – by the fact that every day that I choose life over an easy exit is a victory. Little itty bitty victory.
There are two things that I’ve discovered in the past four years or so that make a noticeable difference in my mental health: one of them is birdwatching.
(The other is yoga but I’m not here to talk about that. )
I’m here to shout as loud as I can about the profound effects that WATCHING BIRDS has had on my mental health just in case it could possibly help someone else like it helps me.
It’s pretty common knowledge that being outside, being physically active and mindfulness all play important roles in staying healthy. Bird watching does all of these things in the most gentle way. It’s beautifully non-committal. Which is really nice when you’re struggling with depression. The idea of trying to go jogging or go to the gym or even leaving the house to just go for a walk can be incredibly daunting. You know that those things could help but the thought of that much effort can make any of those activities impossible, so you just stay at home, paralyzed by your mental illness.
Birding is not physically demanding, there’s no competition or super fit people around you making you feel like a useless idiot. It’s also a reason to go for a walk in the first place. Sometimes when I think about just going for a walk with no purpose or destination I’m struck with a delightful combination of feeling both overwhelmed AND anxious; more often than not I just end up staying home. Birding is just enough of a goal that makes me feel motivated to leave the house without feeling like I’ve taken on too much.
You get to be outside, walking around, and in order to notice birds around you, you have to be quite present. Walking slowly and quietly; listening intently to the sounds around you. Tangentially you are also reaping the benefits of breathing fresh air which is straight up beneficial to your physical as well as mental health. For me it is exactly like meditation but with a more tangible goal. Like if tai chi was combined with a scavenger hunt.
The best part of that is that you don’t have to put effort in to try and be present. Birding sort of tricks you into it; it’s blissfully effortless.
On top of everything I just mentioned, you also get to loOK AT BIRDS AND BIRDS ARE SO CUTE. Even just finding a bunch of sparrows in a bush: sit down and just watch them for a couple minutes. They’re so fluffy and ridiculous. Get lost in them. Be a witness to their simple little lives.
You don’t even need binoculars to go out and enjoy birds. Now that I think about it you actually don’t even need to go outside. Sometimes I just sit in my living room and stare out the window at all the magpies because they get into shenanigans constantly and it makes me laugh. Noticing them in the first place is the important part.
All in all what I’m trying to say is that bird watching saves my life – literally – just a little bit every day. The more times I do it, the more birds I notice, the more I want to go out again, the more present I become in day to day life and the fewer opportunities I have to drown in my seemingly endless mental illness.
The Masterbirder 