“We are not the idea of us, not even the idea that we hold of us. We are us, multiple and varied, becoming. The heterogeneity of us. Blackness in a Black world is everything, which means that it gets to be freed from being any one thing. We are ordinary beauty, Black people, and beauty must be allowed to do its beautiful work.” Kevin Quashie describes in Black Aliveness, or, A Black Poetics of Being.
As my great nana Rosa ( the wee ginger lass who hooked up with the Ghanaian sailor) used to ask, ‘How you fizzing?’
There was a time when people lived their lives in deep connection with the Natural world. We lived, worked, ate, and designed our days and even our homes around the cycles and seasons of the planet, in sync with the Earth we depend on. That connection kept us grounded, mindful, and, in many ways, healthier in mind and body.
Today, research shows that 93% of our lives are spend indoors – and that was before the pandemic!
You don’t even have to be a nature lover to know that can’t be good for us. In fact, we’re coming to understand that so many of the world’s most pervasive problems – from heart disease, depression, and poor sleep, to droughts, wildfires, and rising oceans – can be traced to our personal and societal disconnection from the Earth and from our own “true nature” as humans.
That is why I’m delighted to share with you today an upcoming event created specifically to address this damaging disconnection with simple, practical tools you can apply to your life right away – no matter how busy you are.
🌳 The Rise Up Rooted Global Wellness Symposium 🌳
Reconnect with the Earth, Reawaken Your True Nature, and Rewild Your Busy Life!
I’m proud to be a featured speaker at this event where I’ll be talking about healing with/in nature. I’ll be talking on WEDNESDAY, MAY 17th and it will be available for participants to watch for 48 hours.
And don’t worry – this event isn’t going to monopolize your week. Alex is committed to serving busy people so none of the interviews run longer than 45 minutes. So you’re sure to get all of the wisdom and none of the fluff.
Here are some of the other topics you can look forward to during this info-packed week:
🍃 Digital Detox: How to Rewild Your Brain and Body with Tracy James
🍃 Food, Nature, & Human Health with Robin Richardson
🍃 The Natural Path to Beauty & Self-Care with Face Yoga with Danielle Collins
🍃 Heal Your Home, Heal Your Body with Charlie Lemmer
🍃 Exploring Ancient Wisdom in Nature for Challenging Times with Beth Norcross
🍃 Pachamama is Calling with Mariela Maya
🍃 Nature as Creative Muse with Cathy Nichols
🍃 How to Use the Metaphor and the Wisdom of the Five Seasons to Guide and Inspire Us withKaryn Prentice & Elaine Patterson
🍃 Black British Women: Reclaiming the Landscape withSheree Mack ( WEDNESDAY, MAY 17th and will be available for participants to watch for 48 hours).
🍃 Guiding Changemakers from Burnout to Renewal withDevorah Brous
🍃 Regenerative Design for Life and Landscape with Keri Evjy
🍃 The Healing Power of Trees in Cities with Jackee Holder
🍃 Telling Your Own Nature Story from Your Soul with Devorah Spilman
🍃 Bringing Children Back Into Nature with Ellen Dee Davidson
🍃 Walking in Nature: The 20-Minute Miracle Cure with Alex Strauss
…and many more!
You really don’t want to miss this.
You can attend the Rise Up Rooted Global Wellness Symposium completely FREE. When you register, you’ll be notified each day when the various interviews are available.
PS – The amount of practical wisdom you will get access to for FREE during this event has the potential to dramatically change the rest of 2023 for you (not to mention the rest of your life!) I recommend you make the time. Click here to register.
PPS – Got a friend who could use a dose of Nature’s medicine? Please forward this invitation. All are welcome!
As it stands I’ve completed 20 miles of the 52.4 miles for the month of May. Nearly half way there and not even half way through the month yet. So pleased with how I’m moving.
I’ve mentioned my mum and walking , but she’s not my only inspiration when it comes to putting one foot in front of another.
At this time of year when growing up in Bradford, May light nights and rising temperatures, after tea ( as I am a Yorkshire lass!), each evening we would go out for walks. Dad and Mum, sis and me.
Of course I didn’t want to do it. It felt like a punishment. A cruel exercise is working out our energy before bedtime. How I hated going to be in the light nights.
We set out from our maisonette flat, take the bridge over the dual carriage way, to walk up the hill past the textile factories and into the rabbit warren estates of ‘Little Jamaica’.
My only joys of these evening walks, we’re picking up scraps of fur from the toy making factories and lining my pockets with them so I could stroke their softness while I walked.
The only other joy was if we called in Dad and Mum’s friend Beverley who lived over on the other side of the road, who had a son called Ivor, that I quite liked. He had Thunderbirds toys I liked to play with too.
These evening walks were something I endured. Something to get through. Now as I’m older, appreciating the light nights for walks out, I’m inflicting the same ritual on my daughter when she’s staying with me. Ignoring her complaints and marching her out the door.
And on those evenings that I walk alone, covering more miles and sinking deeper into my body and the present moment, no longer needed are scraps of fur in my pocket to keep me walking.
The act of walking itself, being outside with all nature has to offer, with heart and soul open is enough to feel joy and gratitude and light.
The Natural world – from the heavens to our gardens – has so much to give and to teach us
I just manage to get this note in under the wire as today still is in the month of April. But this month has been a busy one. If not being away dog and house sitting then one of birthday celebrations, as both my babies were born in April. I have also been trying to crack on with a commissioned essay, and managed to present something decent at the final event in connection to my exhibition at the BALTIC.
Coming out of my hibernation into a full on month has had its trials and tribulations. But I know what has kept me on the straight and narrow and mostly full of joy has been my connection with nature.
I missed the sea at the beginning of the month, because I was land locked. But this was an ideal time to appreciate the blossom. Cherry blossom, apple blossom, plum blossom, pear.
I’ve always loved on blossom. The blousy pink and white blooms, just fill me with joy and gratitude. I’ve been putting myself in the path of beauty as Cheryl Strayed would argue. Then once I returned back to the North-East it was time to reacclimatise with the sea after an almost three week break. And it was painful. But I needed to get back in, to get close with her, and remind myself that I am alive. And this life is a gift. The sea, along with nature as a whole, is my medicine. And I feel it deep when I am not taking my medicine, through choice, circumstances or self-neglect.
Nature is always there for me when I’m in need or guidance. And I’m grateful for this connection. Even while I worry that we are losing more and more species and ecosystems, I keep faith and hope that we can work together to recognise and reconnect with ourselves, each other and nature to bring about systematic change to benefit all species, and the generations to come. Even in the little ways we show up for nature all count in the grand scheme of things, I think. This is why I’m excited about
🌳 The Rise Up Rooted Global Wellness Symposium 🌳
Join me on May 15th and let the Natural world lead you back home to yourself!
🌳 The Rise Up Rooted Global Wellness Symposium 🌳
Reconnect with the Earth, Reawaken Your True Nature, and Rewild Your Busy Life!
I’m delighted to be a featured speaker at this free global event, created by my friend Alex Strauss to serve busy people all over the world. The 5-Day Rise Up Rooted Global Wellness Symposium, May 15 – 19, is your invitation to devote a few quiet minutes each day to your own well-being. I’ll be sharing more about my connection with nature and how she helped me fall in love with myself and others as part of a panel of 20+ featured speakers. From these authors, coaches, speakers, physicians, teachers, and healers, you’ll learn practical ways to…
Clear space in your life to connect with the healing and uplifting power of the Earth, even when life is crazy busy
Find hope and inspiration for uncertain times
Learn simple, Natural self-care practices you can use anywhere
Boost immunity, beat stress, and re-energize by growing and eating your own organic herbs and vegetables
Reignite your creative spirit
Bring the life-affirming power of “forest bathing” into your everyday life (even if you don’t have a forest near you)
Attune to the seasons and cycles of the Earth (and stop working against them!)
Recognize and apply “life lessons” from the Natural world
Become more intentional about the time you spend outdoors…and indoors
Embrace the power of mindfulness in Nature to quiet your busy brain
This isn’t like any nature-focused event you’ve seen before. During this five-day journey, you’ll learn not only WHY we all need more Nature now, but also HOW to integrate more Nature into your daily life, and exactly WHAT to do when you you do get outside.
Note: This event was created for busy people. None of these pre-recorded interviews are longer than 45 minutes, so it’s easy to watch or listen during the day, whenever it’s convenient for YOU!
I really hope you’ll decide to invest a few hours between May 15 and May 19 with me and the other speakers. I know you will come away renewed, recharged, reconnected, and ready to tackle whatever comes next!
PS – Don’t worry if your bare feet haven’t touched the Earth for months or you’re not a gardener. The Rise Up Rooted Global Wellness Symposium is NOT about any one way to connect with the Earth. Instead, it’s about simple, practical steps we can all take in our day-to-day lives to be healthier, happier, and more peaceful in body and mind. (Some of them can even happen while you sleep!) CLICK HERE to RSVP now.
I think from the time of my MA in Creative Writing, 2003 at Northumbria University, I’ve had the dream to write a crime novel.
Reading crime fiction is a guilty pleasure of mine from being young. They scare me and thrill me at the same time. I don’t try to guess who’s the killer or kidnapper or criminal. I’m just there in the thick of it; engrossed.
There has been times through the years, where I’ve said, this is the time, I’m going to write the crime novel. Start the reading and taking notes, fleshing out the story. Only to get a few weeks down the line and my patience has worn thin. I’ve lost the spark. I’m hit with the massive FEAR of failing.
It’s like a don’t give myself the time and space to crash and burn. That I jump to the end and make it all crap and useless, only after writing a few pages. That it’s okay to fail as nothing is perfect, super deluxe on the first pass.
But I think I’ve come up with an idea. What if I trick myself into thinking all I’m doing is writing a page. Not a whole crime novel, just a page. How would that work out for me?
Page 1
The beach is empty. The sky cloudless, grey moving to blue with the sun being up for over an hour. The usual dog walkers are out marking the sand with prints and shit. Some clean up after their dogs like good citizens. While others never look back.
Littered with glossy seaweed and feathers, as if a bird battle has gone down, the beach is flanked by a rotting pier. Or wooden construction used in the past to mark out bays within the sea for long forgotten trade. Now just an eye sore and gathering point for the bored youth trapped in this seaside resort.
But down there within the shadows and the shallows is one naked white body. A woman, lying on her stomach, arms beside her sides, palms turned up. Her blond head is turned towards the sea, tangled with seaweed and sand. The sun beams down on her bare arse resembling a conch. Her swollen face reveals gaping blue lips around cracked teeth.
It’s a chocolate lab sniffing out crabs around the pier who finds her body. Barking to its owner to come see, gulls flock down to squark the find too. Then they circle, eyes piercing the sea, maybe looking for her missing feet.
Living Wild Studios 