How can I be of service through my creative practice?

04/05/20 • 40 min

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As we find ourselves in the midst of these uncertain and disorienting times, I keep asking myself this question that probably many of you ask yourselves, too:

- How can I possibly be of service with what I have? through my creative practice?

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Dialogues with Nature podcast is back.

In this episode I’m pondering about where I am now, where we are all, the changes I’m going through and what we are experiencing at a global scale. I’m talking a lot about hope, how nature and a creative practice can be a solace, especially in our current times. Thinking through how creative work can continue in our dynamic times, how I could nurture more resilience through my practice and what possible ways there are moving forward.

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References from this episode:

On Being podcast episode with Rebecca Solnit
The entrepreanour, Tara Macmullin, whose work I find inspirational, the host of What Works podcast
The poem by Emily Dickinson I refer to
The piece titled ‘Lockdown’ that was originally posted on instagram by the author that I read aloud at the end of this episode
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Ways you can support this podcast:

Interested to hear more about Dialogues with Nature Network I’m setting up?

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review and share it with a friend. You can find me as @walkinglantern on instagram and on twitter. And if you'd like to receive a newsletter, sign up to the mailing list here.

________

As we find ourselves in the midst of these uncertain and disorienting times, I keep asking myself this question that probably many of you ask yourselves, too:

- How can I possibly be of service with what I have? through my creative practice?

________

Dialogues with Nature podcast is back.

________

References from this episode:

On Being podcast episode with Rebecca Solnit
The entrepreanour, Tara Macmullin, whose work I find inspirational, the host of What Works podcast
The poem by Emily Dickinson I refer to
The piece titled ‘Lockdown’ that was originally posted on instagram by the author that I read aloud at the end of this episode
________

Ways you can support this podcast:

Interested to hear more about Dialogues with Nature Network I’m setting up?

Previous Episode

Eleanor Cheetham on independent publishing and seasonal living

:: Dialogues with Nature Network has launched and is currently open for new members to join until 16 July. Find out more here.

:: If you feel the flowers and trees are calling, the grasses are whispering your names, come and join us in the Meadow, our Foundation Course here.

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‘The everyday can be extraordinary. These small and seemingly normal things going on outside are extraordinary. That connection what can bring us so much joy for so little.’

Today I’m talking to Eleanor Cheetham whose work is rooted in nature and the seasons. She is a writer, editor and independent publisher. She was publishing Creative Countryside magazine in the past two years that you may know.

Eleanor lives in the Lincolnshire countryside with her family. She talks about her work and journey through Creative Countryside, publishing the magazine, and the inception of the seasonal community that has naturally evolved over time, realising the value of building in-person connections. Providing a platform where meeting others who love and feel inspired by nature has also become an important part of her work. Nurturing connection with nature in a group resulted in a collaborative partnership this year with another wildhearted women with whom together they launched Folk + Field, a creative nature inspired community.

Eleanor finds her inspiration on a daily basis in the local landscape, the fields and the hedgerow she walks past daily. In her words - ’it seems like such a simple thing, that really roots me but going the same way everyday, means that I see the exact moments when the rosehips turn, or the moment the hazelnuts are ready, or when the elderberries have fallen..' - Noticing these tiny moments are key and inspire her writing.

‘What we do won’t immediately yield instant results. It’s about the journey and connecting with nature, ourselves and like-minded others.’

Eleanor talks about her future plans. She is currently writing a book and also publishing a chapbook this Winter with poetry with hope to bring joy to people’s everydays throughout the darkest season of the year.

Drawing on her own experience, she is also about to begin offering mentoring for creative writing projects and self-publishing. She emphasises going at our own pace.

She also tells us about following the sun and the moon and cycles. the Celtic ‘Wheel of the year’ festivals and how these markers in the season reminds us of bigger cycle of the earth.

We are ending this episode on a note of awareness of transformation around and within us.

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Next Episode

Bex Partridge - Everlastings, An ode to the art of drying flowers

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An ode to the art of drying flowers.

In the latest episode here, available today, I talked to Bex Partridge, a floral artist who you may have come across on instagram as @botanical_tales. She recently published her first book: Everlastings.
In this interview she talks about her creative practice in great detail: all aspects of growing, foraging and drying flowers. I asked her what the word everlastings meant to her. What she responded to that question is one of the reasons what makes this episode a great one to listen to! There are lots of gems here in this episode worth hearing.

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Bex’s website and Instagram

Order a copy of her book: Everlastings from here.

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Recommended books by Bex in this episode:

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If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review or share it with a friend.

You can find me as @walkinglantern on instagram and on twitter.

And if you are interested to hear more about Dialogues with Nature Network, please follow the new instagram account @dialogueswithnature and sign up to the mailing list here.

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If you appreciate the time and effort that goes into making this ad-free podcast, you can financially support this podcast now:

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The music for the podcast is by Band of Burns ‘Now Westlin Winds’ song that was recorded live at Union Chapel in 2017. I used this song with the band’s permission.

Band of Burns on instagram here and their website is here: https://www.bandofburns.com/