Director’s Pick: “I Worship Every Bird that I See”
Drew Lanham. Image by Peter Frank Edwards/Redux. No copyright infringement intended.
“I Worship Every Bird that I See”
Drew Lanham on On Being
I spent a captivated hour plugged into this conversation while cleaning my kitchen recently and highly recommend it. Here’s a favorite moment that really dials into why I think child-led play in nature is so important:
When Tippet sheepishly confesses that she calls cardinals “redbirds”, Lanham responds, with wisdom and generosity: “There’s no shame in not knowing the name of a bird. If it’s a redbird to you, it’s a redbird to you….[T]he birds know who they are. They don’t need you to tell them that…
“Sometimes, what I try to get people to do is to disconnect for a moment from that absolute need to list and name, and just see the bird. Just see that bird. And you begin to absorb it, in a way, in a part of your brain that I don’t know the name of, but I think it’s a part of your brain that’s also got some heart in it. And then, guess what? The name, when you do learn it, it sticks in a different way.”
This is a great reminder that we don’t need to have all the answers for our kids. Instead, approach your time outdoors with a sense of curiosity alongside your little ones. Rather than finding the correct name, ask, “What would you name it? Why?”
From the childlike joy humans can access at any age through nature immersion, to the connection between conservation and our nation’s legacy of enslavement, there are so many moments to dig into during this conversation between On Being host Krista Tippet and ornithologist Drew Lanham. Enjoy!
