Beanley Wood works in black and white
To see in colour is a delight for the eye but to see in black and white is a delight for the soul.
nature connectedness
Wild and Well
Wild and Well: Nature Connection, Wellbeing and Meaning in Life
Readers may recall that in May 2020 Michael Wilson undertook a study of ‘nature connectedness and meaning in life‘ in the Northumberland National Park.
Among other findings, the research showed that green areas with rich biodiversity provide numerous opportunities to help people who connect with nature to make meaning in life. Consequently, any depletion of natural settings would diminish the benefits that these green spaces provide.
A Little Late Spring (2021)
Late Spring 2021
Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.
Frank Lloyd Wright
Mid Spring 2021
My countryside floweth over…
“Is the spring coming?” he said. “What is it like?”…
Frances Hodgson Burnett (The Secret Garden)
“It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine…”
Nature Connectedness and Meaning in Life in Northumberland National Park
Results of nature connectedness and meaning in life research now available
You may recall that last May (2020), Michael Wilson from Derby University began a study within Northumberland National Park investigating how people feel connected to nature and how this connection might contribute to (or detract from) ideas about meaning in life. Well, we’ve been contacted by Michael today, as his results are now available.
Still Flowering
Still flowering in autumn
The unseasonably warm weather over the past few weeks appears to have encouraged many hedgerow flowers to either keep on flowering or have another go.
Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.
Albert Camus
Stretch of the Imagination
Stretch of the imagination
idiom:
Enlarging one’s imagination, forcing oneself to conceive of something beyond normal limits.
Stretches of gorse along the Breamish
Nature Connectedness and Meaning in Life Research
Invitation to participate in nature connectedness and meaning in life research
We have received [4 May 2020] the following email communication from Michael Wilson at University of Derby.
Invitation
I am in my final year of doing an MSc in Psychology at the University of Derby, and as part of my degree I am conducting a study into “Nature Connectedness and Meaning in Life in the Northumberland National Park”. While the benefits of being in nature are well known, not a lot of research has been conducted into how being in nature may be linked to ideas about meaning in life. Also, it is possible that different nature settings (e.g., urban parks, allotments, forest school) have a different impact on people using these spaces. Therefore, I am writing to invite you to participate in this research. The project is supervised by Dr Ryan Lumber (ryan.lumber@derby.ac.uk; 01332 597756).
Everything Looks in Black and White
Worse in black and white?
I fell in love with the music of Paul Simon (formerly one half of the folk-rock duo ‘Simon and Garfunkel’) in 1974, when my sister gave me one of his albums: Paul Simon in Concert: Live Rhymin’. I then went out and bought the third of his studio albums: the 1973-released, There Goes Rhymin’ Simon. On this album there is a song entitled ‘Kodachrome’. This is named after Kodak’s 35mm format camera film. A main characteristic of this film was that it gave an unnatural colour saturation to the images; so, a photo taken on a dull, overcast day, would look as if it had been taken on a sunny day. Hence the following lines from the chorus:
Breamish Blossom
Beautiful Breamish blossom
One of my favourite films is the 2003 movie ‘The Last Samurai‘. While I find it memorable for all sorts of reasons – the stunning panoramas, the evocation of a strange and often cruel cultural practices – there’s a quote that sticks in my mind. The samurai leader Katsumoto (played by Ken Watanabe), is grounded in the old samurai ways and the Bushido code of honour. In contrast to his relentless warrior instincts, when confronted by Spring cherry blossom in his courtyard, he says:
