We pay attention differently when we are in nature. This is called ‘soft fascination’ The great 19th century thinker William James (brother of novelist Henry James) proposed that there are two ways of paying attention. The first is voluntary and directed, which is used for tasks that demand concentration. For example doing work, walking alongContinue reading “Comforting Thought: Soft Fascination”
Tag Archives: nature
10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #92
See a mini pony take his first shy steps on specially made legs, a Gibson Girl riding a lobster, some serene paintings by Iris Scott and some frenetic modern punk music. It’s all here. Enjoy edition #92!
Comforting Thought: The blue of distance, the green of time
“The colour of hills that recede layer upon layer into the horizon. Well this is the green of time. The green that grows from nothing, anything if left for long enough.” It comes at first as mildew and mould. A misting of green-grey, or mustard-green, the green of decay. But then it grows into a verdant palette of new life: leaf green, lime green, the green of fresh new shoots.
10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #91
Noekken Som Hvit Hest by Theodor Severin Kittelsen Nรธkken som hvit hest, 1909 ‘The Nix as a white horse’ is a painting by Norwegian artist Theodor Severin Kittelsen (b. 1857 โ d. 1914) He is well known in Norway but less so in other parts of the world for his nature and fantasy paintings depictingContinue reading “10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #91”
Ancient Word of the Day: Komorebi
This Japanese word has no direct translation to English but means ‘the sunlight filtering through the leaves of the trees’. It is made up of three Kanji characters: ๆจ means tree ๆผ means ‘to leak’ or ‘to escape’ ๆฅ means sun Komorebi ๆจๆผๆฅ ~ from Japanese. ‘Sunlight filtering through the leaves of trees The wordContinue reading “Ancient Word of the Day: Komorebi”
10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #90
In edition #90, we take a gander at the threads worn by medieval maidens, wear plastic helmets in the hairdressers, understand female shamanism and sip some healthy drinks and much more. I hope you enjoy these… The colours of medieval fashion were natural, warming and comforting I love the deep marigolds and oranges here. TheyContinue reading “10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #90”
Comforting Thought: Hens are the goodness of the universe
This morning, a friend and I hung over the half door, watching a mother hen feeding her chickens. The hen bustled around breaking up the bread into crumbs small enough to feed her tiny, hungry offspring. The clucking sound she made was the essential sound of motherhood, the goodness of the universe was in thatContinue reading “Comforting Thought: Hens are the goodness of the universe”
Poignant Thought: The Wild Cows on the Island of Swona
In the mid-20th Century, on the remote island of Swona in Scotland, the Rosie family kept animals including a herd of cows. As the decades wore on, their children moved away and the elderly stalwarts of the family stayed on and eventually died there. Moving of the cattle from the island would have been tooContinue reading “Poignant Thought: The Wild Cows on the Island of Swona”
Book Review: Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape by Cal Flynn
Rating: ๐๐๐๐๐ Publisher: William Collins Books Genre: Non-fiction, anthropology, environmental science, natural history, animal rights. What happens when humans foresake and ruin landscapes? They are never truly abandoned. Instead they are engulfed by the non-human world and they become teeming with many other foresaken wild lifeforms. The weeds, plants, insects, birds and large mammals moveContinue reading “Book Review: Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape by Cal Flynn”
Comforting Thought: A cat represents our shared humanity during the worst of times
A cat represents our shared humanity during the worst of times Readers of this blog will remember I reviewed the biographical book about the doomed Karluk and her crew in the enthralling book ‘The Ice Master’ by Jennifer Niven. That book briefly mentions but doesn’t highlight the plight of the plucky feline on board namedContinue reading “Comforting Thought: A cat represents our shared humanity during the worst of times”
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