How Birdwatching Changed My Life

Osprey and Barn Owl feathers I got tattooed!

I’m sure many read that title and thought “uhm… what? How can looking at birds change someones life?” But hear me out…

Picture me, a person so detached from reality that I wasn’t even aware I was really depressed or anxious. I thought I just needed to finish school and get out of debt and i’d be okay. I spent all my spare time looking at my phone and thinking about the future. I was focused…. focused on what my life would look like after graduation or after I moved out of Miami or after I finally had a big butt and a six pack. Do you ever do this?

These are common thoughts that many young adults have. This is what society teaches us. Graduate high school, go to college, get a degree, get a job, buy a house, have a family, die. So more often than not, we just sit around waiting for these things because we believe it’s going to bring us happiness. This was my case. Waiting for something to bring me happiness.

So here I was, a college student who had just quit her job to finish school and FINALLY feel happy after that. The day after I quit my job I went on a road trip with my boyfriend and friends. We visited West Virginia where our campsite was pretty out there in the middle of nowhere. One morning, I woke up to my friend saying “Tasha! Wake up and come look at what’s outside your tent!). I get out and there’s a gorgeous Barred Owl flying from tree to tree in our campsite. After witnessing this curious bird maybe 10 feet away from me, I was hooked.

Fast forward a few months while I was taking Ecology of South Florida and learning about different ecosystems and species, I started venturing to wild places in search of birds. I knew I was birding but I didn’t know JUST how serious it was to me until I visited one of the best birdwatching sites in South Florida, STA 5/6.

STA 5/6 is a stormwater treatment area near Clewiston, FL that provides some of the best habitat for birds! Just on the drive there, we saw a Bobcat, Bald Eagles, Crested Caracaras, and a bunch of different hawk species. After this day, I never looked back and began birding every single week.

I’m sure you’re still wondering, okay well how does this change someone’s life? I’ll tell you how:

It forces you to put the phone down. 

You can’t look for wildlife while staring down at your phone or scrolling through instagram. You miss all the great birds doing this. While birdwatching all of your attention is on the trees or grass or water that you’re scanning for a few beaks.

It forces you to use all of your senses. 

When you’re looking for birds, you need to use all your senses. You need to look for flashes of feathers deep in the trees, you need to open your ears and hone in on that call you’ve never heard before. You need to feel where the wind is coming from so you can catch all the migrates that are being pushed to shore. If you want to do some active meditation, birdwatching is a good way to start!

It forces you to stay present.

You’re not thinking about what tasks need to get done at work while you’re birding. You’re focused on the birds and wildlife that you’re most probably listening to but can’t see. You’re forced to stay present and keep walking in the hopes that you’ll see 30+ species today. It’s an awesome way to focus on the now and not the things that possibly give you anxiety.

You spend most of your time outdoors.

Well… you’re not gonna find a lot of wild birds indoors are you? Birdwatching takes you to the wildest and most beautiful places, from beaches and islands to the arctic and old growth forests. If you want to start spending more time outdoors, birdwatching is your hobby. Not only will it give you the itch to travel more but even when you’re stuck in your hometown, you’ll want to go to a local park in the hopes that you’ll see a lifer!

You meet the weirdest and coolest people.

As with many odd ball hobbies…. you’re gonna meet some weird people! And these people…. have stories! Some have traveled to the very tip of Alaska in search for Russian or Asian birds that flew too West. Some have spent months in the Amazon and some have a lifetime of stories with a life list that could make you cringe (I know peeps who have seen 4,000 species of birds). I’m a huge introvert but when I’m birdwatching it pushes me to be super extroverted where I start conversations with complete strangers… and I’m happy to talk to them!

The point of this post is that birding came to me at the perfect time, where I was still an anxious wreck. After committing to birdwatching every week, I noticed a sense of calm within myself majority of the time. This was a huge improvement since I would randomly burst into tears from how anxious and depressed I was. I, myself, didn’t even know what was wrong with me. I thought I was crazy! I’m sure many people feel this way and I only want people who were in a similar situation to take control of their anxiety/life and feel pure happiness. Maybe it’s not birdwatching, but I’m sure there is a hobby you enjoy that can give you similar results!

Leave a comment below with a hobby that you’re thinking of pursuing! Let me know if you’ve ever had similar struggles and what you’ve done (or thinking of doing) to help yourself!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

How To Find Your Passion

  Excitement is the more practical synonym for happiness, and it is precisely what you should strive to chase. It is the cure-all. When people suggest you follow your “passion” or your “bliss,” I propose that they are, in fact, referring to the same singular concept: excitement. This brings us full circle. The question you should be asking isn’t, “What do I want?” or “What are my goals?” but “What would excite me?””

— Tim Ferris’s

This quote really resonated with me. For those who know me personally, I’ve been on a roller coaster during my early twenties. I tied my happiness to my career choice and when I didn’t feel satisfied I took a few steps back and tried again… and again… and again. This eventually lead to some pretty intense anxiety and depression. If you’re struggling to find what truly makes you happy, ask yourself “what makes me jump out of bed?”

Most people focus on what is most rewarding or what earns the most money or even what they’re good at. All of these are valid questions to ask, however, none truly matter as much as what makes you feel excited and gets you out of bed!

While in college, I changed my major multiple times (4 to be exact!) based on what I thought would make me happy. I failed to realize that there was one thing that I was interested in for years and would find myself reading on the subject during my spare time. This was the exact subject I would end up graduating with.

It honestly doesn’t matter what anyone tells you to do or to study or what job you should get. It honestly doesn’t even matter if you’re good at something or not (although that helps!). You need to choose something that will make you the happiest and most excited for life. The talent, money, and success will come with it!

When I first started college, I had no interest in figuring out my passion or even thinking about it. I just wanted to party and hang out with the wrong people. This eventually resulted in crazy anxiety about school, since I wasn’t where I truly wanted to be. I began to hate school, thinking I didn’t need it, and even started my own business (queue Radioactive Flamingo!). I don’t regret my choices because I learned valuable skills that I am currently using, but had I known my true passion, I would’ve wasted less time worrying and more time enjoying life, like I currently am.

So how on earth can you find your passion? Sit down with a pen and paper. Ask yourself, what makes me excited? What interests me? If you’re still having a hard time, look for what you spend your free time doing. Do you read? If so, what subjects are these books? Whether that’s fitness, make up, or birds, dive deeper into this and see where it takes you! You may just surprise yourself.

The Radioactive Flamingo in the Room

2015 was a year of trial and error. I had finally decided to move beyond my nutrition and dietetics degree because it made me so unhappy. I decided I would start an Etsy shop and see where it went, since that was something I had dreamt of doing for many years. And thus, Radioactive Flamingo was born. If there is one thing I am proud of, it is the courage it took to open that shop, the time I put into it, and the hard work I pushed through for about 6 months. I did enjoy it because I wasn’t going school and was working part time at a museum. After seeing some success with my shop and how “happy” I was, I thought possibly a career in interior design would work for me. Creative freedom, decent pay, and a wide variety of jobs seemed a good fit for my personality. I looked into schools and was accepted to Winthrop University, 10 minutes from my mother in laws home in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Moving to the Carolinas had been on my mind since the first time I visited! It seemed meant to be…

Until I went to orientation and was told I would need to attend another 4 years when I had already endured 89 credits at FIU. That would’ve cost me over $120,000 in loans. It really wasn’t meant to be. That trip was hard for me. I felt lost and hopeless. What would I do with my life? A degree was so important to me. I told myself I would finish with a degree in liberal arts and get my masters in interior architecture.

Was that even what I wanted? Did that truly make me happy?

During that trip, we visited Congaree National Park… Where I hiked 8 miles into the swamp and witnessed groups of hogs, Pileated Woodpeckers, every insect imaginable. I was in heaven. It was all beautiful. The fact that I could walk down the trail in the pouring rain and stay completely dry thanks to the thick canopy of cypress trees. The trail seemed never ending, even on our way back to the visitor center… But it was perfect. I felt alive.

 

Crowders Mountain was also on our list, a rock climbing area about 40 minutes from my mother in laws. This was one of the hardest trails I’ve ever walked and yet somehow I always trace back to it in my mind. My boyfriend was planning his FIRST (one more time… FIRST) camping trip with some friends to rock climb at this park. It occurred to me… I used to go camping… Big Cypress National Preserve, Everglades National Park, Biscayne National Park, Peace River… Where did I get lost?

Now I was about to turn 25 years old and was about to pursue a career… A lifetime… In Decorating?!

No. I wouldn’t. I needed to feel alive. 2015 was a year of trial and error… Mixed with anxiety and depression… Mixed with low self esteem… Mixed with hatred of myself… But somehow in the forest, hiking through cypress swamps, kayaking in Key Largo, watching sea turtles catch a breath of air, taking photos of whatever insect, bird, snake, I could find… That is where I felt alive. A fire in myself that I had forgot even existed. That’s when I decided… For the 3rd time that I would not settle for a lifetime of anything but that fire within myself.

Welcome to Tasha Adventures.