How do we create? Always, I look deep into myself in order to better understand others; always, I look deep into nature in order to better understand myself. In the past I thought myself a hawk hunting down ideas, or perhaps a galloping horse tossing a great mane on the stage. But increasingly I’ve come to realise that I am a Grandmother Spider, weaving ephemera: that each piece created is joined by the same thread; that I need to stay…
Does the world feel more of a mess lately? Or does it appear so much worse because I’m constantly plugged into the news. I’m not sure it’s that good for our mental health. Trying to find the balance between staying informed & staying sane feels a Sisyphean task. Increasingly I return to the thought that we cannot change the world, or perhaps that the only way to change the world is to focus instead on changing ourselves. I wrote in…
After five years bouncing from home to home, including a year at the rescue centre where he went to five or six homes and was returned each time, Kit the lurcher x deerhound joined our family. He is so much fun. Truly a big gentle giant. He wants to say hello to everyone, which usually means him making a really weird howling noise when he sees people and dogs. He thinks this is friendly but it can definitely sound a…
My thoughts keep returning to opposites lately. Years ago I discovered the Tao Te Ching and it blew my mind. The concept of nothingness: that real understanding lies in emptiness, not accumulated knowledge or wealth, is not something I’d previously encountered. And then to read of the simplest thing: left creates right; up creates down. If this is the case then the further left we go, the further right is created, and vice-versa. What does it mean then to stand…
When the mountains call, you can do as I did and pretend it’s not happening, or you can respond. It makes no difference. They understand the true nature of time. You will listen then, or you will listen now. It is all the same. This poem is ten years old. It’s taken fifteen years to come full circle / & all the other tiny circles / & all the other giant circles that echo out from / & into this…
Take a chance. Go somewhere, anywhere. Become the cartographer. Draw your own map. Do not relinquish autonomy for a curated experience. Ten thousand people may have stood in this place before you – that is irrelevant – what matters is that you are here now. This is what makes a moment unique. Your heart already knows this – the art is the years spent tuning into her so that when she calls you are ready to listen. Make an infinite…
On a day when the clouds mop all the water from a billowing sky to wring liquid greyness into my head, I follow a single trail along the riverbank. The water is a renaissance painting: greens frill & flow beneath a surface of softly shimmering glass. I am reminded of The Wind in the Willows & my grandfather who gifted the audiobook I played for endless months as a child. Still, the rain falls relentless, outside & in. I scramble…
I wrote this poem as we were making Vanlife plans over three years ago. We’ve now been living on the road full-time for 557 days. Some people ask if it’s starting to get hard, they wonder if perhaps we’re tired and miss being settled. I can only say that for us it’s becoming easier. We’ve developed a beautiful rhythm to our days that took over a year (and an overwinter on Crete) to discover, & we have no plans of…
Ive been wanting to make sticky cauliflower buffalo ‘wings’ for ages – as yesterday was our anniversary it felt like a good day. This recipe is based on one found on Yup It’s Vegan – I’m loving the recipes on there and although I enjoy devising my own there are times I just want to follow a recipe, maybe slightly adapt it, and enjoy the results. This is delicious. I had to change a few ingredients just because we didn’t…
Post-run cool-down-wash. These days I’m braver with getting in the water wherever we are. Why does it feel so odd immersing in water if there’s people around? Especially if they’re in winter padded coats & hiking boots ?. When did it become weird to wash in a stream so that bathrooms are the only option? Increasingly I want to sit in the water naked. Not to show off flesh – I’m a long time past that – but to feel…