Mental health and birding

A few months ago, I realized that I do not have a big goal in my life. Thoughts about this can sometimes make me feel very sad. My sadness usually shows up as a strong pain in my belly. It feels like gravity has dramatically increased around it. The feeling soaks up a lot of my attention, and it takes great effort to bring my focus back to the present. I find it really hard to listen to people when I’m feeling this way.

In the past, a lot of people told me to try new hobbies, but I never really felt the urge. I had tried new things, but nothing really stuck. Then one day, I was wandering through a bookstore and found a book about bird songs. It explained how to recognize birds by their songs and calls. I found it quite interesting.

Around that time, I also suddenly became very interested in the bird called the “Grutto.” I don’t remember the connection anymore—maybe its call was in the book. The Grutto is the national bird of the Netherlands. Although I’m not a particularly nationalistic or traditional person, I found it strange that I had never seen the national bird of my own country. I didn’t feel a strong urge to see it, but it seemed like an interesting goal. The idea grew, and I suddenly thought: maybe it would be a fun goal to try to see as many Dutch birds as I could this year.

It’s difficult to explain, but I was aware that I had set the goal myself—there wasn’t a deep, burning urge—but it still felt different somehow. Maybe it felt a little light, like a joke I was making with myself.

I just started doing it. I already had a camera, so I charged the battery and went for it. At first, it was fun because progress came quickly. If you want to see every Dutch bird, the common birds count too, of course. So it felt like I was achieving something right away—birds like the koolmees, mus, kauw, and meeuw were all around me. When I visited new places, I always spotted a lot of new birds—not new in general, but new to me.

Later, it became more of a challenge. Sometimes I set a goal to find a specific bird. I’d research what it sounded like, how it looked, and how it behaved, just to try and track it down. So it always stayed interesting—either I’d see lots of new birds, or it became a challenge to find them.

At first, I didn’t notice it, but later I realized that birdwatching was also very mindful. When you’re searching for birds, you’re both watching and listening. It’s a much more fun way of being present than meditating. My mind isn’t always fully turned off, but it’s a nice way to train myself to be in the moment. Plus, I was outside and active, which is never a bad thing, of course.

It was also interesting to discover this “new side” of the Netherlands. There are so many different kinds of birds here. Although many of them look alike, there are also large and colorful birds living in this country. I often thought it was strange how people travel all around the world to see certain landscapes or animals, while the Netherlands has beauty to offer too—it might literally be sitting in your backyard. Now, five months in, I still sometimes spot birds I had no idea lived here.

So—I’m not a mental health expert, and I really don’t want to sound like a social media influencer telling you what to do. But I do want to share that setting a small goal for yourself, even if it feels weird or simple or laughable, might do something. And if you don’t like exercise or meditation, something like birding could be a great alternative.