Eskdalemuir is a seriously cloudy place. During one period, I swear we didn't see the sun for 18 months, and last 'summer' was a stretch of cloud and temperatures of 10-12 Celsius. But as much as I dream of dryer, sunnier climes, Eskdalemuir is a surprisingly hard place to leave. Read more
David Abram, in his amazing book The Spell of the Sensuous, talks about geography as a container. More than just mountains that enclose or fields that spread out, land shapes our views of the world, our experiences with future places, how we perceive time and seasons, how communities function, and how we relate the non-human world. Read more
In thinking of Places within Places, and finding deep connection in an urban environment, it is especially important to consider what constitutes aliveness and how we define 'sacred' or 'spirit'. Read more
Through the challenge of accepting what is here and now, I no longer cloud my vision by yearning for that which is elsewhere. Read more
Glasgow sat in the same blanket of quiet I'd known from my childhood, but this fog didn't feel the same. My heart didn't feel the tug of sadness in the grey. This was a different kind of quiet. Read more
When I connect to this land, I aim to connect not with a mythic, misty past made up of 'the Celts' or other such imaginary peoples, but with the real layers of life of which the land is made: the human lives which belonged to this land before me, in all their amazing diversity. Read more
Ten things I am looking forward to seeing/doing/experiencing in western Washington in 2013. Some will easily connect me to that sense of place I crave. With others, I run the risk of being a white spiritual tourist. Read more
Ireland is a land awash in folklore. Like waves crashing upon its shores, the stories create a rhythmic backdrop for life. They seep into the fabric of Being and are part of the island's DNA. Read more
One of my key practices is the walking meditation. Usually, I just step outside and start walking, and if a street or path catches my eye -- perhaps a corner I've never turned onto before, or one I haven't walked on lately -- I see where it takes me. Read more
Even though the slog of January, February and March remains ahead, it feels like a final end to the previous year, and a beginning in earnest of the new. My body and soul will still struggle through winter, each in their own ways, but my senses will tell me that the days are getting longer, the light stronger, the earth warmer. Depending on the weather, the first snowdrops will be coming soon, along with the sound of the oyster-catchers, peep-peeping their way back to their usual haunts, to poke their beaks into the softening earth. But until then, the earth remains asleep – Bride is still kept in drudgery by the Cailleach, Queen of Winter. Read more
A Sense of Place
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