Last Spring's bird's nest in a bough beside the footpath at Ford village, Shropshire

Image: © Jeremy Bolwell Taken: 30 Jan 2021

When I make plans and my doubts become 'traitors, and make me lose the good I oft might win, by fearing to attempt' I always try to remember what ordinary birds do every season; they build a static nest of twigs, bound to a tree with no adhesives, out of doors and visible to every predator and competitor, and in that fragile bower raise a brood and often see them successfully fledge and start that same cycle themselves, ad infinitum. I want to be more like a bird; trusting myself, my skills and trusting pure optimism too, the laws of chance, the laws of nature and that you make your own luck. We don't need much certainty to try and then succeed. Birds prove this every year, every day. Wynford Vaughan-Thomas, the Welsh broadcaster, had a life view of 'pointless optimism' and I have yet to see anyone improve on this philosophy. He was a birder too.

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0