Me and a Bird on the Beach: The Wingspan Effect

“He was not bone and feather but a perfect idea of freedom and flight, limited by nothing at all”
― Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull

I was running on the beach this morning but the tide was high and rising; and the sand was soft and unstable.  I slowed to a walk and noticed a shorebird to the left keeping pace with me, his small gray body balanced on absurdly long thin legs.  He darted along hurriedly, giving me the side eye occasionally with a toss of his pointy beak.  I began to feel as if the bird and I were taking a stroll together.  

Eventually I swung my arm a little too enthusiastically and frightened him into flight. He sailed away over the ocean chirping loudly only to return moments later a few yards up the beach, striding forward while glancing back at me.  

I might not have noticed him if I’d hurried with my mind lost in my daily to-do list.  But I did notice and experienced this small moment of communion in my busy day.

I’m also convinced it wouldn’t have happened without Wingspan.  Wingspan is a board game my kids and I discovered years ago.  I never imagined that a game about the characteristics, nesting habits and preferred food sources of birds would be entertaining, mentally challenging, and informative at the same time, but we truly enjoy it. I have to say that ever since I started playing, Ive noticed birds in a way that I never have before.  Birds began to enter into my awareness on a daily basis. Of course they had always been around, but now they had become part of my focus.

Which makes me wonder how easy it is to alter my everyday perception based on input. It emphasizes the importance of steering my brain towards beauty and connection; and of slowing down, so I’ll notice.  

Arianne

p.s. this was not meant to be an ad for Wingspan, but it is a cool game.  

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Approaching the Blank Canvas, Real Talk on Fear, Inspiration and Not Giving Up in Art and Life. It’s full of true tales and tips from my 20+ years of making art for a living. It’s available on Amazon Books and you can also find the link to it and my other books on my DesignsbyArianne website.