The Inquiries
“What do you do when you do what you do?”
Essentially, the foundation of my work is a series of ‘inquiry practices’ where I explore, observe and write as I try to develop a more ecologically oriented, sustainable way of living.
I’ve found that mapping the territory of mid-life and beyond requires attention to experience, allowing time to be inspired and to take a breath.
Contemporary lifestyles demand conformity and compliance as they slowly erode our efforts to hold new and different ways of inhabiting in our world. Yet the discipline of repeated, enduring ‘inquiry’ can form the basis for an enduring professional practice and renewed sense-making. As Rilke would say, if we live and love the questions, some day in the future, we might gradually, without noticing it, live our way into the answer.
As I navigate the second half of life, I’ve found these foundational, creative, reflective practices have supported my wider inquiry into how we could all inhabit our world. Each feels like ‘soul work’; they have resourced me over the years and gently reveal my deeper hopes and wishes for how I want to inhabit this world. In turn, these inquiries begin to creatively shape and define ‘The Work’ that I undertake in my professional life.
#Explore
My preference is to travel lightly.
Wandering and wondering; walking, cycling, embracing local discovery and active travel. My preferred style of exploration is a minimalist endeavour that strips away baggage from within and without.
#Create
The camera encourages me to pause.
It helps me to gently focus my attention and live in the present moment. Photography and video invite me to open myself to the world, and let me frame beauty and wonder in the everyday patterns that surround us.
#Eco
The aspiration of an ecosophic, aesthetic life and practice stays with me.
As I slow myself down, matching the rhythm of my world, a more balanced and interconnected way of life emerges. Yet we are enmeshed into consumerism and busy-ness, and the task stepping away from the bustle of our modern preoccupations is surprisingly difficult.
#Connect
My first connection is to myself.
For years now, daily journaling has been the foundation of my reflective practice and I know that, if I can work well with my deepest feelings and experiences, they will resonate collectively.