She demonstrates the balance between the two, asking us whether we are sharing what we know and acting what we believe. When it comes to parental love, the nightingale’s timidity changes to a brave ferocity.
Timid and shy at times, she can show us how to act with grace and elegance. She teaches us to sing loudly – above the cacophony of the mind chatter and above what others think and say. She shows us how to move through different levels of consciousness and use the inspiration of higher realms while keeping grounded. What is learned in the night is to be incorporated into the day. It guides the listener into connecting with old beliefs and thoughts and encourages her to take charge of her mind. Its sweet song brings to light what is mysterious and hidden it gives inspiration as the harbinger of a personal dawn. The nightingale will sing for its mate all through the night and thus also symbolises the spiritual person practising love and visualisation. It traditionally represents melancholy and joy, love and loss, and life and death. In Romeo and Juliet it signifies the lovers’ undying love for each other, but also that both are in mortal danger. The nightingale also carries literary symbolism not only does its song presage love, it is also a symbol of the connection between love and death. Perhaps without Florence Nightingale my own life path would have been very different, one which could have denied me a fulfilling and successful career. Considering the severe constraints on the kinds of activities deemed suitable for women by Victorian society and ferocious male opposition, her achievements were truly remarkable.
She was an advocate for women’s rights and argued strongly for the removal of restrictions that prevented women from having careers. In 1860 she opened the Nightingale School for Nurses whose mission was to train nurses to work in hospitals and to care for the poor.
In 1859 Florence Nightingale wrote Notes on Nursing, a book that is still considered a classic. Not only am I drawn to the symbolism of this bird of love and loss, it is also the name of the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale. The nightingale has totemic significance for me.