Download or read book Lessons from a Birdbrain written by Laura McDermott and published by . This book was released on 2021-10-05 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Lessons from a Birdbrain: Winter, Ohio" introduces 21 birds that spend the coldest months in the Buckeye state, where I call home. With each bird, I include reflections and a quote I encourage readers to ponder along with learning more about the birds. I've tried to make the learning fun and different from what you would find if you looked up the bird in a typical field guide. This may be related to their nicknames, their breeding behavior or something about my experience with getting the picture. Reflections are all about mindfulness, an "aha" that has helped me live life more serenely. Why or how, you may ask, does birding go with mindfulness? From Oxford Languages, "Mindfulness is defined as 1) the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something 2) a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts and bodily sensations." Birdwatching is all about the state of being conscious and aware. If I'm not paying close attention, I can miss a lot. And birdwatching brings me alertly into the present. Acknowledging and accepting feelings, thoughts and bodily sensations, admittedly I often have to work at?but everything else about birding is practically the definition of mindfulness itself.The 'birdbrain lesson' component of this book starts to address the harder feelings work. I've frequently been one to discount, misinterpret, ignore or flat out flee from that icky "f" word. But I'm working on it and through my continued growth, I hope to share insights that will help others on their journey. Someone once said when the student is ready the teacher appears. For me, the teacher often has feathers. I say that because many times, solutions to problems and insights of great value come to me while birding. One could surmise this is the result of letting my brain work in the background on something while I focus my awareness on the present moment to spot that Common Merganser or that lively Carolina Chickadee. Feedback, questions, newsletter, check out my https://lessonsbirdbrain.com/Happy birding!