The World According To…A Sea Bird?

The World According To…A Sea Bird?

Posted on July 31st, 2008 by Todd

Today I took a long walk on the beach and sat down next to a sea bird staring out at the ocean. I began wondering: how does this tiny creature perceive the vast expanse of water in front of it? Does it see a blue sky, white clouds, ripples in the current, and a straight horizon like I do?

Does it hear the crash of the waves on the surf, the high shrill of other birds swirling around, and the cackle of human voices milling about? Does it feel the wind, the sand, and the water in a similar manner as I?



Of course I do not know the absolute truth here. I can only surmise the answer is ‘no’, that the sea bird does not sense its surroundings in the same notion as a human being.

But how exactly does the bird perceive the realities around itself? And is it remotely possible for me, a human being, to comprehend the tangible sensations of a different species of observer?

A few moments later I watched a woman taking her very young child towards the ocean. I watched intently as the little boy excitedly jumped in and out of the waves, and shrieked with delight as the water came in towards dry sand and then back towards the horizon.

I began thinking about this young child’s perception, and wondered how he senses the ocean, beach, sky and realities around him. Was it similar to my observation?

I think its safe to say that the child’s discernment is more closely related to my own then the sea bird’s…but when you intently watch a young child it becomes clear that his perception is markedly different then an adults.

How Does Perception Really Differ Between Beings?

So even within my own species, perception can vary greatly depending on a variable (like age).

This really got my mind running, and I began contemplating two 50-year old men sitting beside me: one of them a clan leader for an indigenous tribe in remote Africa, and the other a Plumber from Brooklyn, NY.

How would these two men perceive the ocean, sky and beach around them? Would they see and feel the similar sensations? And if not how exactly would their base perception differ?
For my last experiment, I closed my eyes and lay back on the sand. I took several deep breaths and relaxed my mind. I sat there for 20 minutes straight solely focusing on my breath, coming in and out of my body.



I got myself in a wonderfully meditative state and felt very present. I then sat back up and opened my eyes ready to perceive the circumstances around me.

I could feel the wind much more crisply and noted its sensations on parts of my body that I did not feel earlier. The ocean and sky appeared much sharper to me, and I could see the ripples in the water much more clearly…almost as if they were moving in slow motion.

The blue color of the sky was so blazing that it almost startled me. Wow. I noted the horizon in a much different way as well, and could see ripples of current much farther away.

I heard sounds that I did not notice earlier, like the ripple of the wind on a kite that had been flying above me. I heard the sounds of people from way down the beach, and could also hear the rustling of sand as it whipped up on my shorts.

In all, it was like I was a different person observing the same scenario. But it was not a different person, I was still me.

3 Primary Observations From My Hour On The Beach:

1) That the human ability to perceive its surroundings is distinctly evolved, enabling us to understand the universe with the highest capacity that we are aware

2) That even within our own kind, perception varies greatly, and

3) That we can have a purposeful influence on how clearly we experience our lives

To point #1 the sea bird’s tools for perception are not as advanced a human being’s; it is an older, more archaic form of consciousness sensing its surroundings with less awareness.

The bird has a lower vibrating level of perception then we do, and therefore senses reality at a different level of stimulation.

To point #2 a young child, although not tainted by the ego and intrusive thought process of most adults, still has less potential for higher levels of consciousness then his/her elders.

So even though children may experience joy, excitement and thrill much easier then you or I, their potential for evolved human consciousness is not fully realized.

And to point #3, what about my own personal ‘transformation’? The difference between Todd before he lied down and Todd after he lied down is that the second Todd was much more present for the experience, sensing with greater clarity the truer nature of his surroundings.

Before the breathing and meditation exercises he was still wearing the lens of his everyday life. Things like work, money, food, and everything else that his mind incessantly thinks shrouded his ability to perceive to some degree.

Todd post relaxation was more still, present and aware. His ego was shelved for a few moments allowing the lens of his authentic self to perceive, in a more genuine manner, reality around him.



And what did this new perception bring? Clarity, crispness, increased beauty, and a sense of calm that were not there earlier…

We are always wearing some sort of lens that shapes our reality, and we have the ability at any given moment to wipe that lens clean!

So what is the point of making these distinctions?

The point is this: That we have the ability to purposefully generate a greater awareness of the world (and universe) in which we live.

Right here Right now YOU have the ability to be more aware and present.

And this is important because the more conscious we become, the more beauty, peace and love is brought into our lives and to the world around us.

source: we the change