I have been wrestling with so many things over the last few months, and I know I have not been the only one. I’ve been worried about trying to get on the job ladder, about when it will be possible to move out of my family home, and about generally moving on to the next stage of my life. But everything has been put on hold due to a virus. It’s strangely fascinating how something microscopic can topple world economies and bring out the collective crazy in humanity. Not that it is something I wish to ponder for too long.
During all this madness, I have occasionally ventured out of the house to explore some of the natural beauty on my doorstep. It has been both a calming experience and illuminating, as it has allowed me to see my local area differently to how I normally see it. I think in urban areas we can sometimes forget to take a break and get some ‘fresh air’. We’re too busy squirreling along in our everyday lives to look up for a moment at the birds in the sky, or too take out our earphones and listen to nature. Perhaps we should take some time out of our days to do so. To stop and appreciate the beauty around us. This is something I noticed at the beginning of lockdown sitting in the garden. Ever so often I heard this extremely loud humming sound overhead. To my amazement, it was the noise of the sparrows wings beating, the sound of all the muscles and sinews vibrating in order to allow the bird to fly. The only reason I hadn’t heard it before was because of the endless drone of cars in the distance and planes flying in to London’s airports.
I guess I wanted to start this blog to give myself something to do. Because, for some reason, the less I have to actually achieve with my day, the less time I have to actually do something productive. Here’s hoping this will be a catalyst to actually push me to do something a bit more proactive with my life. Perhaps it could become a space for me to be more freely creative. A sounding board for my inner ramblings. Or perhaps it will be complete and utter gibberish and I will give up on it before it has even begun. Fingers crossed that will not be so.
I am lucky enough to live near some really beautiful green spaces which are within walking distance of my front door. They appear to me as unique and complex characters as if from a novel, except a few hundred pages would not be enough to describe them. Here is a brief introduction to one of these spaces.
Whitmoor Common
Whitmoor Common is an area that I adore walking through because it is so diverse and changes so regularly. It’s an area made up of heathland and woodland, and contains a variety of rare nesting bird species. The heath fascinates me the most as there are a variety of colours, from deep purple to vibrant yellow. Walking here is amazing because it’s a pocket of completely wild habitat in the middle of a built up town. It’s like stepping back in time and seeing what the area looked like before there were houses.
Walking here gives me piece of mind because it is such a vast area and it is so diverse. Somehow feeling small and insignificant in a vast and vibrant landscape is comforting, perhaps because it reminds me that I have the ability to roam free and that I shouldn’t be confining myself to one area. Seeing a vibrant array of flora and fauna reminds me that I don’t need to own a specific space in the world, because I shouldn’t own any of it. The beauty of this space is that it remains relatively unaltered by humans, although it is maintained by them.
Through this blog I hope to explore this area, and others near me, in more depth. I hope that it will allow me to be more creative, and connect more with the world around me. I aim to go for walks daily, come rain or shine. (I hope I don’t eat those words.) Hopefully the blogs will be semi-regular. And more interesting than this one. See you in the next one!
Fay Dragon 