Townsend’s Warbler : Just Name It

Townsend’s Warbler

This is a Townsend’s Warbler.  I saw this beauty on a recent expedition to California.  This was well outside my usual geography, and I couldn’t identify her at first.  A little research revealed she’s named for John Townsend, a 19th century naturalist.  Townsend explored across the Rockies, all the way to the Pacific Ocean, and gave his name to numerous birds and mammals.  He collaborated with other notable figures of the day, Thomas Nuttall and John Jay Audubon, the latter of whom evidently gave Townsend wide authority to name the species which he first brought to science’s attention.  In a bitter irony, Townsend died from arsenic poisoning - arsenic being the “secret ingredient” in his proprietary taxidermy formula.

The Biblical creation story teaches that Adam was entrusted by God to name all the animals.  You can almost envision the miles-long line to parade in front of Adam, and he names them as they pass.  This naming process is deep and rich with interpretation.  Perhaps it implies mastery or dominion, with humans atop the ranking and animals relegated to subservient status.  Alternatively, it could establish humans’ shepherding role, charged by God with responsibility for protecting animals and the environment we share with them.  And more.  It was this naming exercise - explicitly - that revealed that Adam was singular and without his own counterpart.  Until Adam went through this exercise, he wasn’t aware he - of all creation - was alone.

What is the power of naming in our lives?  Our psychological pains:  uncertainty, anxiety, dread, all of them share the characteristic of ill-defined boundaries and extent.  Their impact on us owes much to the fact that we don’t know just how lasting or far-reaching they will be.  Our fear of the unknown magnifies the inherent issue.  Instead, what happens when we name these fears?  Can we cabin them, manage them, by explicitly naming them?  Dominion and mastery become unalloyed positives when applied in this way.  The gaps in our life, the aloneness, become clear when we name what’s around us.  Names - for Warblers and deep-seated needs - are a powerful tool ready for us to deploy against the emptiness in our lives.