Ducks Don't Care
Who are these ducks, and why don’t they care? It started with harlequin ducks and long-tailed ducks swimming off the jetty in Barnegat Lighthouse State Park, New Jersey in late January of 2023. Huddled on the rocks with my totally numb fingers curled around my binoculars and my toes burning with cold in my boots, I was amazed to see the rafts of ducks tossing in the waves, unfazed by the bitter weather, irreverent of winter and the trials of shivering humans crawling over slippery stone. As they dipped under the frigid water, popped up exuberantly, and made silly noises at each other in the whipping wind, I realized that ducks are everything I aspire to be.
Ducks aren’t about apathy: They’re all for ups and downs, diving and surfacing, crossing sea and sky. Although they migrate amazing distances, they seem to put a lot of effort into flying, unlike many birds who glide easily into the blue vastness. And they’re extraordinarily silly; no one watches ducks scratching their heads with their webbed feet and chasing each other across the water and sees a picture of stoicism.
At the same time, nothing holds ducks down. White waters, freezing temperatures, a wall of sharp rocks that threaten to snare them: They slip under the waves and bob back up like bath toys. Ducks embody the idea of feeling every moment completely, because they don’t just experience turbulent conditions as something endurable. Anyone who has spent time watching ducks in wild seas has seen that they appear to genuinely enjoy every moment. For ducks, life is about play. And good meals and sleeping in the sun.
To be a duck is to be versatile enough to thrive in sea or sky, to be totally present and live for simple pleasures, to handle the rough waters of life with grace and aplomb, playfulness and a healthy dose of mischief. When I encounter snags in my life path, I hope to look at any obstacle and think, “Would a duck care about this? Would this keep a duck down?” The answer is almost always no.
I hope that these gifts find you a little more duck-like: a joyful troublemaker with the unshakable faith that you are exactly where you’re supposed to be, and you’re going to find meaning in this moment, no matter the torrents.
