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 renounce our hyper-consumption society 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. Alone a little hummingbird was bustling. He would fetch drops of water one by one from the river to project them onto the fire with his beak.
The armadillo, annoyed by this ridiculous actionends up calling out to the hummingbird: You’re not crazy ? Do you think you’ll be able to put out the fire with this?”
And the hummingbird replied: no, but I’m doing my part.”
This legend of the hummingbird taken from the tale of Pierre Rabhi, the peasant philosopher author of Sobriety happywho left us 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 assignments to accelerate the transition from a hyperconsumption society to a more autonomous and united system:
- Inspire : promote environmental and civic initiatives.
- Relate : bring together the bearers of initiatives through local groups.
- Sustain : bring skills to initiatives.
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Legend of the hummingbird: moral to remember
Rather than doing nothing about environmental, social or economic problems because we feel helpless Faced with the magnitude of the task, let’s get moving.
Rather than waiting, immobile, because we believe that the solution must come from others, let us use our means and our individual skills to acteach 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 can change. As Mahatma Gandhi said: Be the change you want to see in the world.”
Admittedly, hummingbirds still have little weight in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and food waste. But 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 lives and our individual and collective impacts.
It is the contribution of hundreds, thousands and then millions of hummingbirds that will lead us towards greater autonomy and cooperation. It’s a collective challenge where everyone can (and should) do their part.
The individual act is anything but derisory
Being a hummingbird means taking an active part, however modest, in the energy and ecological transition.
It can start with small daily actions like sorting your waste, eating less meat (especially beef), buying fruits and vegetables local and seasonal, choose light means of transport (walking, cycling, etc.) or collective means of transport (public transport, trains, etc.), make detergent and cosmetics at home and many other small gestures that do not require no great effort !
The objective is to individually reduce its carbon impact to make others want to do the same. Whether you are at the beginning 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 meaning in this great transition?
The engineer and energy specialist Jean-Marc Jancovici answers resolutely in the affirmative, explaining: It must be understood that the transition is a system in which everything responds.
The entire effort does not rely on a single group of individuals. There are four cogs that must work together to turn the same gear: consumers, producers, states (public power) and finance. Each movement of one of these four sets advances the overall system so it is always good to take. There is no great conductor who will fix everything with a wave of a magic wand like Merlin the magician. »
What you need 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 forwards. They have the ability to flap their wings up to 80 times per second. These birds are known to drink nectar from flowers while soaring in the air.
What is the hummingbird symbol?
The hummingbird symbol 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 a third of the weight of a toothpick.
