The Small and Inconsequential: Sparrows and Philosophical Thoughts

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I always think of the small gesture of bending down to look at a flower. Most would walk past it, either being so used to it or not giving a minute's attention to it. There is nothing wrong with this disposition. The world revolves around people making it work. But the world is also filled with minute small details that get lost in the fleeting brevity of it all; it happens but no one appreciates it.

The philosophical anecdote always gets used for first-year classes, but if a tree falls in the deserted forest does it make a sound? Implying that sound only actually becomes sound as soon as the human ear registers it. And even if this example or anecdote most likely is so far removed from reality, there is a grain of truth to it: the beauty of the flower is only present in its brevity, and it will cease to exist if the poet does not write a poem about it, if the artist does not paint it, and if the wandered does not bend down to look at it.

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We are often told that the small and inconsequential does not affect the bigger scheme of things. *What happens today will have no effect in a 100 or a 1000 years. Something along those lines. But this takes away from the colourful nature of life itself. It takes away precisely what gives it meaning: perspective.

It is not necessarily true that there is no sound in the forest when a lonely tree hits the ground. But it is true that if no one appreciates the small and inconsequential that it disappears. The small sparrows sitting across me does not know about my existence, but I do about their existence. Few take the time to appreciate their everydayness and the beauty of the common.

There are so many of them and one sees them every single day - their beauty gets lost in their repetition.

But as soon as we stop to appreciate this beauty, there will be no need to keep ourselves from living in such a manner as to ensure their demise.

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We are always the centre of experience. Or at least, in the last couple of 100 years or so. If a piece of land does not make money, it becomes "dead" and "useless" irrespective of the life that it sustains. This is unfortunately our fate, life is at our disposal and humans have taken over.

But this makes the appreciation of the small and minute even more important. Because without us, they will demise and disappear.

When the insects and rodents, which we humans despise, get exterminated, the small birds will die. When the small bird dies, the birds of prey will die. In a short while, nothing will remain - exactly because we did not appreciate the small, the inconsequential, the so-called replaceable things.

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It only takes a moment's appreciation to see how beautiful they are, these sparrows, one of the most common birds (in my area, at least). Not everyone will appreciate a good wine. Not everyone will want a "fancy" plate of food. And so also not everyone will appreciate the small little bird. Its beauty is truly lost in its common nature. But those that do look and appreciate them hold their future in their hands.

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I hope that you can find the time to appreciate the small things in life.

It is only when we realise that our very existence and perspective contain the weight of the world that we begin to appreciate our own existence. So also these small little bird friends, our ability to appreciate their beauty maintains their existence. Without the caring few, they might not be here.

Happy birding (and photographing). Keep safe.

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All of the musings and writings are my own. The photographs are also my own, taken with my Nikon D300.