a journey of a new beginning
Throughout my life I have been inspired by the beauty of nature and for a long time have known that somehow I needed to capture what I had learnt without drawing heavily on anyone’s help but my own.
After my working life the time had come for me to escape into the open air and continue to record wildlife in my little note books. My writing skills however only came to the surface after a worrying threat to the loss of our precious local greenbelt, the very same area about which I had written many of my stories.
I was so consumed over the threat of losing our precious landscape that I decided to write to our local newspaper informing readers of why we should save the greenbelt. The paper printed the article but sadly cut it to pieces and it had lost its validity. The next piece of writing which was titled The Wonderful Woodland Floor took no time at all to complete as I was so frustrated by the misleading information and lack of wisdom heading our way. I needed to make people understand just how important this area was, not just for the wildlife but for us also and what would be lost forever.
We were informed that the land had little ecological merit, but this area had been a bastion of animal happiness, of which the weight of evidence from my observations makes it impossible for anyone to deny. However, having developed a substantial tremor, one which would so often keep me awake into the small hours, I would simply write to resurrect the memories that were lost in the midst of time. I was to make an inward vow that I would continue to write and hopefully inform people that beauty is not a luxury but a compelling force for the good of all.
By practicing mindfulness at every turn of my life I have observed, deduced and documented my wealth of knowledge of nature in all I have witnessed first-hand. The scope for choice is almost bewilderingly vast. If we could create more space in our minds and our lives helping us to achieve an expanded vision of everything going on around us, one that I believe holds a battery of influences, we could then appreciate more of life’s positive blessings. It will inform the heart and educate the spirit which tells how to turn a breakdown into a breakthrough showing the beauty to be found in God’s acre. I realise now that it’s not just an aesthetic but a deeply spiritual experience, one I feel has helped to develop within me megawatt strength, a journey that has helped me to become more conscious that the suffering and pain I went through was in a sense a kind of gift.
Before I started my journey, the prospect was full of hope and unlimited potential and I knew that if I made it I would never again be merely a call in the midst of a crowd.
This little story of mine is coming to an end yet it is only the beginning of another chapter, another adventure. Having given myself to nature, not trying to subdue or pervert it but just to live with it has helped me to realise how closely linked extreme pain can be to sheer joy. All these activities and many more have been observed by me over many years and this selection of stories is a record of a hitherto secret world. I hope it has helped to inspire you to live your life moment by moment, knowing that the countryside will absorb you as I have affectionately absorbed it.
Through the power of mindfulness this journey has clearly shown that if a person does not keep pace with others, perhaps it’s because they hear a different drummer, so let them step to the music which they themselves hear, however measured or far away.
These little stories will hopefully help the shy, the desperate, and the lonely. For if people came out of their homes to see and hear the beauty that surrounds them they would retain a potency that would last forever for it has a unique ability to bypass the gatekeepers of the mind and go straight into the emotions.
