A whole bunch of good stuff to read
Because I can't hear myself think
Hello! This week I am doing something a bit different and sharing some other people’s posts, for a number of reasons:
I enjoyed them, or learnt something from them, and I think you might enjoy them or learn something from them too.
I have been so welcomed by the wonderful community of writers on Substack and I would like to return the favour by shouting some people out.
I am juggling a lot of jobs in my freelance and personal life right now and I have run out of time to write something worthy of your inbox.
My neighbour is renovating their house and someone is banging so loudly on the wall that I cannot hear myself think and writing this short list is about all I can manage.
All I want to write about is swifts, and I already did that.
I’d love to know if you enjoyed any of these posts, learnt something or found someone new to support on Substack. Let me know in the comments.
“One of the joys of natural history is that the closer your look, the more unanswered questions you find.” -
“It’s Earth Day today. I call my brother. We talk about replanting the olive trees when this is all over. I cry and watch footage of courageous students on college campuses, then pack a water bottle and text a friend to join me for yet another protest.” -
“"The opposites of fear and anxiety are not peace and calm. They are curiosity and creativity." - Elizabeth Gilbert shared, paraphrasing the key premise of Martha Beck’s latest book.
So me today, bending down and cluelessly taking pictures of petals and leaves on this ancient ground might mean more. Maybe it’s not just a silly whim. Maybe it’s a practice. A curiosity practice.” -
“I remember them because when you’re on a long train journey and some unnamed instinct makes you look up from your book and glance out of the window, and when at that precise moment fifty lapwings billow up in a small cloud from the water’s edge, paddle-shaped wings beating in near unison, the sunlight just catching the dark green-and-purple iridescence of their backs as they wheel round and away from you, and when what you usually see from the window of a speeding train might be a couple of crows and a desultory wood pigeon, and when the brevity of the sighting makes you want to pull the emergency cord so the train can stop and go back and you can explain to your fellow passengers – in the brief period of amnesty they grant you before tearing you limb from limb – that honestly there were lapwings there and you should have seen them – when all those things align, it’s the easiest thing in the world – an instinct, really – to hold that image in your mind and save it to the folder in your brain marked ‘Eternal Bird Memories’.” -
“The more we can read and learn, the stronger our minds. The stronger our minds, the more steadfast our convictions. No knowledge (or art, for that matter) should be kept in the dark. I believe in Information Anarchy.” -
“Everything I do is about trying to connect people to nature, because I think it’s so powerful, so important, so life-changing – and because if we’re to have a chance of mitigating some of the pressures to come, we need as many people as possible to be in love with the natural world.”
“So maybe, son, it’s not the words you know that matter, but the way you use them.”
“In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), spring is the season of the liver and the wood element—connected with growth, renewal, and emotional flow. After the stillness of winter, we desire to stretch and circulate again, as the comfort we craved in the winter lead to more eating, less moving and stewing in our lower emotions instead of shifting them.”
“"Being told “wow, you have such great taste in everything. You’re like the best sommelier, but of TV shows and cheeses and crisps, rather than wine."”
“We count the stars through holes
Where our ceiling used to be” -
“What I’m getting at is this: what if you look at life as if the majority of things are okay? Neutral at worst.” -
Thanks for including my piece!
Ah thank you Zabby!