Living a Gentle Life
Not everything is possible. Everything can not be changed or undone. But when you look outward, when you let the light in, there is hope. Nature provides us with a restoration that cannot be found elsewhere. It is through nature that we will heal, and it is through noticing nature, that each one of us can change her destiny. All is not lost.
We are standing in a window of opportunity. A place where we can stop ourselves from stealing our children and our grandchildren’s futures. A place where every step, every choice, every change, is reflected as brilliantly as the fingers of the sunset across the sea.
Don’t give up hope. Do not fall into despair. Look up, look out, breathe deeply, reach out and embrace a life that ensures we give our beautiful planet, to our beautiful children.
This week, alongside being part way through my middle grade/young teen fantasy novel, (which is based in the forests and features a girl with leaves growing on her back), I start planning my new creative non-fiction book. It combines my expertise in psychology, with my passion for the planet. I hope to get it out into the world. It’s about the forests, and the oceans, and the sky, and the earth. It’s about all of the creatures we are privileged to share our Mother Earth with. It’s about the indescribable feeling of holding a tree against your cheek, of breathing in the tangy sweet scent of a flower, of hearing the swooping warbles of your local magpies, welcoming the morning.
Last night in my dreams, I stood next to an enormous Mountain Ash, deep in a forest. I could smell the rain in the soil, my arms barely wrapped about its huge girth. I stopped in time. I didn’t want to leave this place. Each day, many of us try to live a gentle life, but it’s hard.
My new book will take you through why we want so hard to be different in how we live, why we are so interconnected with nature, why everything from tiny bacteria to forest giants, matter. And most importantly, how you can reduce eco anxiety and stay positive in your quest for a sustainable life.
It can seem insurmountable when you start to look at the planet, but I want to encourage you to remember the way you felt the first time you tumbled in a salty wave, the last time you looked up and noticed that the world was dancing in a pink light, dusted by the falling sun, and to notice the next time you have an opportunity to make a difference, while staying positive about our capacity to save our planet and our future.
Helen