the Arctic Tern

The arctic tern is a bird famous for its migration. It travels on average 70,000km a year - all the way from the Arctic and Subarctic regions to the northern edge of the Antarctic ice. Last year Newcastle University tagged 29 birds and logged a record-breaking migration of 96,000km flown by a little bird weighing less than an iphone. (Article in the Telegraph.)

I find these birds incredibly fascinating. They see two summers a year and more daylight than any other being on the planet. I came across it in South Africa where Brian and I bought an artic tern made from a salvaged tin. It now hangs in our Peterborough studio. The art collective we bought it from is famous for its chandeliers made of recycled materials (Magpie Collective).

Researching its medicine significance, I could not find much, but while looking I was reminded that it is about the personal meaning. While sitting in one of the most northern places I had been to (Trondheim in Norway) I was contemplating what home is, which is for me at the very heart of the bird's importance.

We can get fixed on an individual place or culture, but what if we could feel at home in different places with different cultures - understanding and accepting different aspects in ourselves even? After all we are all humans, we share our humanity and even though there are differences, most of the time we have more in common than we can even imagine.

​What I personally take away from this incredible bird is its ability to be at home connecting to earth and sky no matter where it is in the world.