Owls
"The crow wished everything was black, the owl, wished everything was white." -- William Blake
Owls have magnificent adaptations to facilitate doing their jobs of quietly eradicating the world of tasty morsels running about at night. They have, as we all know, the ability to fly silently thanks to specialized feathers that dampen vibrations. These feathers are, however, such particular structures that the preen oils most birds possess would nullify their effects. Consequently, most owls are not waterproof. They can't hunt in the rain and have been known to drown when landing in relatively shallow water to drink or bathe. They also need extra down for warmth to combat freezing when feathers get sodden. Their ears are asymmetrical on their heads to help with the sound location of tiny feet moving around. Their facial feathers help with light collection to their eyes; eyes that are far superior to their prey. Owls have eyes that are more tubular than round. In fact, owls’ eyes are fixed in their heads, which can swivel up to 270 degrees. Less body movement is more stealth. They have to move their heads to change their view.
That last sentence is the one that really jumps out. William Blake also wrote, "The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind." How do you change your mind? How does one change someone else's view? There is, as one can imagine in today's world, a great deal of research on how to convince someone to believe something different than what they currently believe. The consensus is that facts -- logic and evidence -- don't change minds. We have 4% of the world's population in the U.S and consume two-thirds of the world's production of antidepressants. There's a fact to throw into any conversation regarding wellness, gun control, socialized medicine, education, screen time, lack of contact with the natural world, income disparity... and on and on. But documentation shows that empathy can change someone's mind. If you play to win, to confront, bash down the other position, you will not win. You can't play to win. You have to play to learn, to connect. People are tribal. They want to connect and fit in, to bond with others and be respected. We are herd animals. (Some exceptions, naturally). And insulting another herd's lack of ________ will only serve to thicken the wall between.
Owls swallow prey whole after kneading it with powerful talons and then regurgitate the indigestible stuff -- fur, bones, teeth. Kind of like the way people tend to process the news they choose. If we want to change the views of others, we can lead by example. The increase in solar energy in the U.S. is 51 times greater from 2009 to 2018. The installation of panels on homes ripples in radiating waves -- when your neighbors get panels, you get panels. Changing minds requires being open to hearing the issues from the side that is not your side. It requires being open to things that fall outside your group's belief system. Just listening engenders openness, which in turn leads to communication and the potential for your position to be heard. Listening is hard when you know you are right to start with... Right!? But, it's a process. Dogma is what people hang on to in order to define themselves. Carl Jung said, "People don't have ideas. Ideas have people."
Fighting doesn't work. You may knock them out and win the match, but they will hate you even more after. Like the owl, you have to move your head to change your view. Moving heads is tough, but we have, as a collective, been through worse. We can work toward common ground. We can share the air with the owls. And the crows. And all the others flying through the yard. Last week, a great-crested flycatcher perched on the garden stake ten feet from the deck. It careened off in a flapping explosion a split second before our local broad-winged hawk streaked by. Talons out. Whoa. That was really, really close.
And so, "Progress is impossible without change; and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything," said George Bernard Shaw. Time for some radical head swiveling, my friends. Get busy. We have work to do. There are wicked creatures to confront but they may not be waterproof. We can do this. The ultimate power in William Blake's world view was the human imagination.
la la la. :)
