Sing on, morning birds
The best part of morning, if you remember to listen for it
In the past year or so, I’ve taken to waking up before dawn. It wasn’t a conscious decision, it just happened one day. Weekdays, weekends, holidays. It doesn’t matter. My body clock just changed one day, and now that I’m used to it, I welcome it.
There is no more peaceful time of day.
One of the greatest gifts of being up before dawn is the birds. They notice dawn first. Before the sky changes color even. One lonely chirp, then two, then a whole burble of birdsong as the first light emerges.
It is only recently that I’ve come to understand what they are saying. I used to think it was sort of a basic “hey everyone, the sun’s up!”
But over time I realize they are saying something far more profound. You see, they are simple creatures. Lives that last a year at best. Unlike us humans, I imagine birds as present moment creatures. No memory of the past, no yearning for the future.
At night, as the sun fades to black, I imagine them tucking their beak in their wing, going to sleep with fear in their flittering little hearts. Fear in the belief that the light has gone out in the world. Fear that darkness is here forever. Many hours pass in the deathly darkness. For a creature with such a short lifespan, a single night is equivalent to a whole season for you and me. Dark. Cold. Endless. Hopeless.
And then, almost imperceptibly, something changes. The darkness feels less heavy somehow. The cold, not quite as biting. Could it be? Could the light be returning? Is life beginning? And then as the outlines of the trees become clear, one bird, then another, then another call out into the breaking day:
THE LIGHT IS HERE!!!
Birdsong is joy. But it isn’t just generic joy. It is a specific kind. The birds are singing the joy of relief. Relief that the dark has gone away. Relief that light and with it life has returned. That most open, vulnerable and real kind of joy. Full throated joy.
The joy you feel when your kid calls after not returning texts all day.
The joy you feel when the tests come back negative for that scary thing you thought you had.
Relief Joy.
Sing on, morning birdies, sing on. Sing in relief. The light is here.
