The Still Point

Hummingbird drinking nectar from a flower with background out of focus

If you've ever tried to photograph a hummingbird in a large open area, you know how maddeningly quick and elusive they can be. These tiny birds dart from flower to flower like careening balls in a pinball machine. Capturing them while peering through the barrel of a telephoto lens is tough because you never know where they'll be. The smallest movement, the slightest sound will send them zipping away.

What drives all this flitting and zipping? Hummingbirds have the fastest metabolism of any animal on earth, with a heart rate that can reach up to 1,260 beats per minute. They flutter their wings 80 times per second as they reach average speeds of 20 to 30 miles an hour. Due to this intense expenditure of energy, they need to feed constantly – typically five to eight quick snacks every hour, licking nectar at a rate of up to 13 licks per second.

By design, everything about a hummingbird supports a flurry of constant, hyperactive motion. Yet, paradoxically, they are masters at stillness.

Hummingbirds, as you've probably witnessed, have the unique ability to hit the "Pause" button in mid-flight. By rotating their wings in a figure-eight pattern, they can stop and hover in one spot, giving them the stillness they require for feeding.

Perhaps there's a lesson here that could be applied to our own frenetic lives.

In his book The Zen of Creativity, John Daido Loori observes that “Every creature on the face of the earth seems to know how to be quiet and still. A butterfly on a leaf, a cat in front of a fireplace, even a hummingbird comes to rest sometime. But humans are constantly on the go. We seem to have lost the ability just to be quiet, to simply be present in the stillness that is the basis of our existence.”

It can be hard to find stillness in a world where our senses are assaulted by so many stimuli – TV shows, movies, 24/7 news cycles, text messages, social media, video games – all clamoring for our attention like carnival barkers. But if we can find a way to pause, even briefly like the hummingbird, we can nourish ourselves with nectar for the soul. In moments of stillness and silence, we connect with our deepest selves – and something far beyond ourselves.

In the words of the poet T.S. Eliot, “At the still point, there the dance is.”

Photographer's Footnote: I photographed this hummingbird in the courtyard of a centuries-old Spanish mission in California.