Of all the world's creatures, perhaps those in greatest need of rewilding are our children. The collapse of children's engagement with nature has been even faster than the collapse of the natural world. In the turning of one generation, the outdoor life in which many of us were immersed has gone....So many fences are raised to shut us out that eventually they shut us in.
George Monbiot
I absolutely borrowed this from Terri Windling's blog, Myth & Moor. I wanted to note it some place ...
I believe that half the trouble in the world comes from people asking 'What have I achieved?' rather than 'What have I enjoyed?'
Walter Farley
A wholehearted yes to this quote, found over on Terri Windling's beautiful blog, Myth & Moor.
I have decided that to die rich is stories is another way to measure a life. I have never 'achieved' in the normal sense of the word but I like the way my life has played out so far. I've lost everything twice but not in a traumatic way ... it's more that I simply stepped away from 'stuff'.
I read of people desiring, quite desperately it seems, to declutter their lives and I think, 'move countries' and take only the 23kg limit allowed by most carriers out of New Zealand. It was the same when I moved from Istanbul. What you can't leave behind becomes clear ...
I found this question over on Terri Windling's beautiful blog, Myth & Moor.
... But when we give ourselves permission, we move past this. The world once again reveals itself to us. We become open and aware, patient and ready to receive it....We give ourselves permission because we are the only ones who can do so.
Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life, Dani Shapiro.
I love catching up with the wise words of Terri Windling via her blog, Myth & Moor. She's a soul-soother somehow.
Meanwhile, I completely agree with the concept of time. Something beautiful always emerges out of taking the time to play ... some of the best art, or the beginning of a series idea.
Needless to say, I'm missing Genova. Here's an imperfect glimpse, taken between the portrait shoots I was doing for my book.
'The great subversive works of children's literature suggest that there are other views of human life besides those of shopping malls and the corporation. They mock current assumptions and express the imaginative, unconventional, noncommercial view of the world in its simplest and purest form. They appeal to the imaginative, questioning, rebellious child within all of us, renew our instinctive energy, and act as a force for change. This is why such literature is worthy of our attention and will endure long after more conventional tales have been forgotten.' -
Alison Lurie, from Don't Tell the Grown-ups, 1990.
Found over on Terri Windling's blog.
The bear, she suggests, "offers us a model of how one lives with that paradox, of public and private life, of a creative life as well as a life of obligation."
Terri Windling, extract from Following the Bear.
