Blessed are the pigeon gurus

On looking for better role models

Not to boast or anything, but I’m off to Europe today for a couple of weeks. I’ll mostly be there for car-related stuff, including going to the 24 Hour Nürburgring race.

Yes, I am quite the car fanatic.

As you may or may not know, this newsletter was originally called The Car Pit and was entirely automotive themed. The Carpet was a lazy re-brand I was eventually going to revisit. Two years on, and here we still are.

Anywhoo - it’s going to be a few weeks of reposts, I’m afraid. If you’re interested in what I’m doing overseas, you can follow me on Instagram. I’m churning out short-form videos like a Dickensian factory worker.

But while I’ve got you, thank you for subscribing. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you reading my work. Your time and attention is a very precious resource. I deeply appreciate that you’re so unwisely spending it here.

And to the people who have actually paid for a subscription, I am very humbled. And sorry. You have received not a word of exclusive content, and now I’m about to do a bunch of reposts.

If I’m going to be totally honest, I quietly turned on paid option early in the year, hoping the Substack algorithm might give my writing a bit of a boost. That did not happen. Then some people actually gave me money, and I’ve been wracked with guilt ever since. In the second half of this year, I’m going to start writing some stuff for the paid subscribers. My Monday email will, of course, always be free.

Right. I better start packing. I wish I could take you all in my suitcase with me.

Cheers!

Steph

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I think we can all agree that the world is a strange and uncertain place at the moment.

Yes, we all know why, and no I’m not going to dig into world politics. What is there to be said that hasn’t been written a million times already?

Instead, I think in trying times it’s good to look towards a philosophy or principal. A lighthouse, of sorts, to guide us through the choppy waters.

You might be tempted to turn to philosophy. Goodness knows, I see a lot of people reading books on stoicism these days. Perhaps you might find some solace in taking cold showers and sleeping on hard beds like the tech bros - or whatever ascetic behaviour they’re currently punishing themselves with in order to gain an illusory sense of control.

Or you could – as I have done – seek out a guru. A modern figure of resilience; someone towards whom your thoughts can turn in moments of angst and stress.

My personal hero: the Parkdale Pigeon.

Firstly, a quick note on pigeons. I could write a whole book about why I think they’re unfairly maligned in society. We domesticated them, loved them for thousands of years, trusted them with our important messages, and kept them as friends in our homes. But when they no longer became useful, we turfed them out and became annoyed when they thrived.

If you spend some time observing pigeons – and I highly recommend you do at some point this week – you’ll find they’re cute, quirky birds filled with personality. The boy pigeons do complex little dances with spins and head bobbing when they’re trying to attract a mate. They coo when they’re happy.



But in an already noble breed, there is no greater hero than the Parkdale Pigeon.

This story goes back to 2018 and starts with a plucky bird choosing a spot to nest. It eventually found a perfect location – the top of this gently warm screen displaying train updates.

But humans are jerks who can’t let pigeons be happy. So someone came along, cleared up the nest and put in ugly metal spikes to deter any future home making.

But the parkdale pigeon wasn’t a quitter.

Stoicism would have this pigeon accept what it cannot control – in this case the petty and cruel bureaucracy of people. But The Parkdale Pigeon was no fool. It could see how stoicism was a limiting philosophy in a modern context.

So, it rebuilt.

And was met with more resistance.

How this was considered more sightly than a cosy little pigeon nest is beyond me.

But where you and I might see painful spikes, the Parkdale pigeon saw elevated multi-level living.

And on this pointy throne, it built a towering, palatial home. The local council conceded defeat, and the Parkdale Pigeon went on to have two babies, while all of Melbourne cheered on.

It was a little pigeon Gandhi.

Whether you are man or bird, hard times will come. They might take the shape of bureaucracy, bad luck, or other forces beyond your control. Some of those forces might be very global and very scary, looming over us in ways that feel impossible to fight.

When faced with these struggles, it’s easy to believe that resilience must look like rage, or some grand act of defiance. And don’t get me wrong, sometimes, it does. Please, don’t let me stop you.

But the Parkdale Pigeon reminds us that we can also choose a quieter form of resistance. It won its battle with a singular determination to be comfortable, to be happy. Impressive that this alone defeated the smallness of council bureaucracy.

So if things feel hard in the coming weeks, think of the Parkdale Pigeon. If for no other reason than because it’s super cute.