29/01/2024 – So, SuperTrip now has a spirit animal…

Roslyn and I met for coffee this week. She surprised me with an enameled pin to accompany me on our trip. As I took it, I said “How lovely, a kingfisher!” She gently corrected me: “It’s a hummingbird.” She encouraged me to explore its meaning online.

In the Pacific North-West, there is a story: Raven, seeing the joy a spring flower brought to the world, transformed it into Hummingbird; green like fresh grass; red like the sun. Raven made Hummingbird to fly like sunlight, glinting through the trees, with a message for every flower, thanking them for making the world beautiful.

Hummingbird also brings its joyful messages to people. To see one before an important undertaking, like a far journey, brings good luck.

Hummingbird’s gift for hovering, zipping backwards and sideways as well as forward, lets him/her keep pace with us as we falter, or lose our way. S/he is a potent guide. Some say Hummingbird shows us how to explore our past without getting stuck. S/he reminds us to also move forward. New flowers always await.

Hummingbird makes his/her world beautiful simply by existing. A Kwakwaka'wakw story says that Dzunuk'wa (Guardian of the mountains and Wild Woman of the Woods) loved Hummingbird and let him/her nest in her hair, adorning herself with living jewelry.

Hummingbird is also a symbol of perseverance, reflecting its endless journey from flower to flower, always searching for nectar. This is deeply connected to my personal sense of self. My (now redundant) CV, lists my 4 critical contributions: humility, ability, integrity and persistence.

“Persistence” is not quite “perseverance”, although the difference is subtle. Both come from Latin. “Persevere” = thoroughly (per) + strict (severus); “Persist” = “thoroughly” (per) + stand (sistere). To persevere is to hold to your course of action. To persist is to hang on. For me, a plodding human, persistence is the commitment and endurance to persevere. Perseverance can be counterproductive (Einstein’s famous definition of “idiocy” comes to mind). Persistence is adaptive. Love persists. Life persists. All things change. “To change” does not mean “to fail”, or “to pass”. The grit in the oyster persists to become a pearl. The persistent flow of water carves canyons.

Hummingbird does not stand - ever. S/he perseveres without persisting, in the sense of lasting/staying long. Perhaps that is why s/he is rarely a clan totem among Indigenous peoples. The average lifespan of a hummingbird is 5 years. I have already lived over 11, glittering, hummingbird generations. Yet 10 had passed before I saw my first one, in December 2020, in Victoria. And, in its deeper sense, Hummingbird persists. His/her agility and constant energy embody the adaptive nature of true thriving.

For that reason, Hummingbird is also a symbol of mindfulness and presence. S/he works hard to find every flower. A jewel-like blur, s/he hovers impossibly over every bloom, savouring, arresting time. In England, we would speak of “making time to smell the roses”.

I cannot imagine a better totem.