Two delightful conversations this week reminded me of the importance of being grounded. Grounded as in being earthed. This grounding reminds us that we have bodies, not just heads. And that our time in the digital domain needs to be counterbalanced if we are to remain healthy and whole. Not grounded, as in being trapped … Read more
Being earthed in place also requires us to embrace paradox. While we might see an aspect of this place more clearly from the edge, we cannot feel its heartbeat from there. Likewise, we cannot know what it is like to be in someone else’s shoes and practice empathy if we are only ever off at … Read more
Have we ever stopped to wonder if the place where we are has a song? Usually, we think it is all about the present when today is merely one note in a melody that came before and will outlive us. How can we become attuned to this song? SONG OF THIS PLACE Will I pause … Read more
Like missing the beauty in the ordinary, does familiarity obscure the distinctive nature of place? Which is rather sad because we can only be here. Not elsewhere. At any one moment in time. So what is it about this place that is calling to us? And why does it matter? I’m reminded of Thomas Merton’s … Read more
Where we listen might be as important as how we listen. It’s just not as obvious. Where do we listen with the most aliveness, and what do we hear? ~ When the valley is in the clouds, the sounds change. It is extraordinary what becomes muted and what is heightened.
PAUSE IN THIS PLACE Pause in this place. Yes, look around, what do you notice? Listen for the heartbeats of those close by, flow with their breath. Sense with their eyes, tune into their ears, know with their soul. Who are these we walk on by, whose air we share? Pause in this place. We … Read more
It doesn’t seem to matter where I go in our little valley; moss is at home here. Not just one kind of moss, but a delightful plethora of shapes, colours and textures. The nature of the terrain and the fact that alpacas don’t treat moss as a delicacy probably help. So does our leaving fallen … Read more
As human beings, most of us have a strong pull toward the place we call home. Yet, this drawing might be tangled and fraught with complicated tension for various reasons. Do I belong here? My lovely friend Joanna Maberly has written a profoundly beautiful and moving account of opening unexpected doorways in On Covid, corvids … Read more
When you stop, what do you hear? Is it the echoes of unfinished conversations,the insistence of a reply,the sadness of the moment,or things said that were better left unsaid? What about the call of the wind,the whisper of water,the wordless sound of a place,or the rumble of the Earth? And what about the comfort of … Read more
What a wonderful invitation to quieten down, to stop and look. To see again what is before us and enter. Walking with Wendell Berry’s poem has shifted my perspective over the last few days. What we need is here. It’s not gone. It is within us and between us. And there is no need to … Read more