Murmuration

Art by Holly Astle

This piece is by Holly Astle, an illustrator based in Falmouth, Cornwall. She is greatly influenced by her local surroundings of the coast and her deep love of the natural world.

This artwork reminds us about the beautiful patterns we can learn from nature, like the way birds can move together in unison. This act is what inspired the name of this community: Bailiú.

“Bailiú” is Irish. It means to flock together, gather, or collect. It was inspired by the book Emergent Strategy, by adrienne maree brown who shares this insight from nature (p.46):

The synchronized movement patterns of a starling flock is also called a murmuration. Guided by simple rules, starling murmurations can react to their environment as a group without a central leader orchestrating their choices; in any instant, any part of the flock can transform the movement of the whole flock. Collective leadership/partnership. Adaptability.

Sometimes we move together unintentionally. Culture shifts and inches us in one direction or another. Imagine if we did this with intention? What could we create if we paid more attention to the way we move as one. What could we build if we focused on our collective prosperity?