Eating Exploring Reading
Why Owls, Bees and Reading?
In order to celebrate the first milestone of Owl.Bee.Reading – we reached 100 followers on Instagram! – I decided the time has come for some explanation. Sure, for many bookstagrammers having 100 people following them is not a lot but to me it means a lot. So, a massive THANK YOU for sticking around and enjoy today’s blog post.
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What is the reason behind choosing this name for my blog, you may have wondered. Why owls, bees and reading? Here comes the because.
Owls?
The owl is my spirit animal. I just love the whole idea, the perception that surrounds them. They are creatures of the night, related to the darkness, mystery, magic, they symbolise wisdom, silence and ancient knowledge. I quite like the quietness and consider myself a night owl. I’m more creative and active in the evening, although in the recent years I’ve learned how to be productive during the day as well. I get up early every day, even on my days off, and I quite like my morning routine. There’s something special in the beginning and the end of each day, you can get away from all the crowdedness and noise and just be alone with your thoughts for a few moments. Before and after everyone else. Be still and be present, simply observe how the world unfolds in front of you in the morning or goes quiet in the evening. I’ve always felt drawn to owls and even though I’m terrified of birds, owls are the only ones that I can actually tolerate, how weird is that? For one of my birthdays my sister got me one of the best gifts ever – she adopted an owl on my name! I even got to meet and hold the tiny creature (a beautiful barn owl), I met all the people who work in the rescue centre for wild animals and learned a lot about the whole process of taking care of them. #BestExperienceEver.
Bees?
Bees are hard working, loyal and I love the idea of how such a tiny little thing can be of a huge significance for the entire world – bees are crucial to the economy. They don’t just provide us with honey, we also need them to pollinate our crops, plants, wildflowers. During the ages, bees has inspired many – ‘[f]rom pub signs and town names, from Shakespeare to JK Rowling, from beehive hair-dos to phrases like “having a bee in your bonnet” – the bee has been a star for centuries. Roman philosopher Pliny referred to honey as “the sweat of the heavens and the saliva of the stars”, while Medieval author and poet Chaucer was one of the first to use the phrase “busy as bees”. The bumblebee has always been a source of special delight because of its portly features and furry bottom. Mr Bumble in Oliver Twist and Dumbledore (a Cornish word for bumblebee) in Harry Potter suit their names well.’* Associated with the soul, bees also symbolise productivity, hard work, impeccable organization and strong work ethic. At the same time, I like to think that they remind us to slow down and stop to smell the flowers.
Reading?
We come to the last part of the name, the reading. That’s easy to explain. I’ve been reading books since I was six years old and I just think it’s one of the best things you could do for yourself – get some alone time, some ‘me time’, and read. I’m not going to list all the benefits of reading, as they are infinite and I’m sure you all know them very well but I’ll share some of my favourite quotes about reading instead:
The library is inhabited by spirits that come out of the pages at night.
Isabel Allende
Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home.
Anna Quindlen
Maybe this is why we read, and why in moments of darkness we return to books: to find words for what we already know.
Alberto Manguel
I love books. I adore everything about them. I love the feel of the pages on my fingertips. They are light enough to carry, yet so heavy with worlds and ideas. I love the sound of the pages flicking against my fingers. Print against fingerprints. Books make people quiet, yet they are so loud.
Nnedi Okorafor
So, that’s the story behind the name. I wanted for it to have meaning, a deep, hidden meaning, but also to be… fun. As you have probably noticed, when you say ‘owl bee reading’ out loud, it sounds a lot like ‘I’ll be reading’. The intentional use of homophonic words is a form of word play that exploits similar-sounding words for an intended humorous effect. It’s called paronomasia or the more common term is a pun. I’ve combined these three elements – the owls, the bees and the books – in order to unite some of my favourite things and make this blog a little bit more personal. Also, I really like the shape of the honeycomb, so I definitely wanted to have that on my website.
In case you need me… #owlbeereading!
* The facts are taken from this website.
