Told by the peasant philosopher Pierre Rabhi, the legend of the Hummingbird is a call to altruism and solidarity. It is also a path that inspires a growing number of individuals to give up our society of hyper consumption to participate in the ecological transition and move towards more energy sobriety.
What is the legend of the hummingbird?
A Native American legend says that one day, in the Amazon rainforest, there was a huge fire. All the animals, terrified and helpless, watched the disaster. Only a small hummingbird was busy. He was going to fetch drops of water one by one in the river to throw them on the fire with his beak.
The armadillo, annoyed by this ridiculous action, ends up calling out the hummingbird: ” You’re not crazy ? Do you think you’ll be able to put out the fire with this?”
And the hummingbird answered him: ” no, but I’m doing my part.”
This legend of the hummingbird taken from the tale of Pierre Rabhi, the peasant philosopher author of The sobriety happy, which passed away at the end of 2021. The legend of the hummingbird ended up giving birth, in 2007, to the hummingbird movement.
Mobilized for the construction of an ecological and human society, the association has given itself three missions to accelerate the transition from a society of hyper consumption to a more autonomous and united system:
- Inspire : publicize ecological and civic initiatives.
- Connect : bringing together the initiators through local groups.
- To support : bring skills to initiatives.
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Legend of the hummingbird: moral to remember
Rather than doing nothing to deal with environmental, social or economic problems because we feel helpless in the face of the scale of the task, let’s get moving.
Rather than waiting, standing still, because we believe that the solution must come from others, use our means and our individual skills to act, each on its own scale.
Even if taken in isolation all our actions seem ridiculous, it is by adding them to each other, and by inspiring new hummingbirds, that things may change. As Mahatma Gandhi said: “ Be the change you want to see in the world.”
Of course, hummingbirds still play little role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and food waste. Corn they show the way. If these efforts are not sufficient, they are necessary because they are exemplary. Sobriety is the essential way to question our life and our individual and collective impacts.
It is the contribution of hundreds, thousands and then millions of hummingbirds that will lead us towards more autonomy and cooperation. It’s a collective challenge where everyone can (and must) do their part.
The individual act is anything but ridiculous
Being a hummingbird comes down to taking an active part, however modest it may be, in the energy and ecological transition.
It can start with small daily actions such as sorting out waste, eating less meat (especially beef), buying fruits and vegetables local and seasonal, choose light means of transport (walking, cycling …) or collective (public transport, trains …), make your laundry and cosmetics at home and many other small gestures that do not require no considerable effort !
The goal is to individually reduce their carbon impact to make others want to do the same. Whether you are at the start of your transition process or already initiated a long time ago, share your efforts and your vision to inspire other people. You will see that our small individual actions are not so trivial.
One can indeed wonder if the individual act can have a direction in this great transition?
The engineer and energy specialist Jean-Marc Jancovici responds resolutely in the affirmative, explaining: ” You have to understand that the transition is a system in which everything is answered.
All the effort does not rest on a single group of individuals. There are four cogs that must work together to make the same cog turn: consumers, producers, states (public power) and finance. Each movement of one of these four sets moves the overall system forward so it is always good to take. There is not a great conductor who will settle everything with the wave of a magic wand like Merlin the Enchanter. ”
What to know about the hummingbird
What is a hummingbird?
A hummingbird, also called a hummingbird, is a type of bird that can fly backwards, hover in one place, and fly forward. They have the ability to flap their wings up to 80 times per second. These birds are known to drink the nectar of flowers while soaring in the air.
What is the symbol of the hummingbird?
The symbol of the hummingbird is a stylized bird with outstretched wings. It is often used as the emblem of Mexico. The hummingbird can also be used to represent peace, happiness, love, and joy.
What is the smallest hummingbird?
The smallest of the hummingbirds is the bee hummingbird, which weighs between 1.5 and 2 grams, or about one-third the weight of a toothpick.
