I love Vanessa's important work, and that you are synced up with her. And thank you for your stunning last paragraph. If broken up into shorter bits, it's a Poem For the Way Through! (I wrote that before noticing that a previous commenter cited the beautiful Gary Snyder poem. ;) ) Also, as an "Earth-Sky" astrologer, I also really appreciate your presencing the need for us to "dance again with the rhythms of cosmology." May it be so.
"And we will need to rediscover that any world worth living for centres not on the vast systems we built to secure the future, but on those encounters that are proportioned to the kind of creatures we are, the places where we meet, the acts of friendship and the acts of hospitality in which we offer shelter and kindness to the stranger at the door. In this way, even now, there may be time to find our place within the vastly larger and older story of which we always were a part."
I received your book on advance order a few days ago and have already read it and marked up the pages with marginalia. Your words speak to me, and I especially appreciate your interpretation of the Covid years. I’m in the United States and it’s refreshing to read a perspective that is outside the binary red/blue discourse that permeates our political conversations over here.
I listened to a podcast episode where your interlocutor called your approach “gentle.” And I appreciate the gentle, thoughtful approach, as a way to possibly change some hearts and conversations. I plan to share this book with a friend or two in hopes of generating conversation around the status quo and the alternative small path(s) we could be taking instead.
Wishing you the best at the start of your book tour!
I have only just started on your book. Already it is even better than I could have hoped for. I am most definitely walking with you on the ‘small path’. I have been for a while now, and covid certainly helped with that. You’re right too that we on that path come from different places. You seem very convinced of where climate change is coming from, I am not. So we should be on opposing sides. But we’re not. I’m a ‘the science’ skeptic in all its forms, but what I am clear about is we’ve taken the wrong path. You don’t have to hold any view either way on man-made climate change to believe that. I’m loving the book Dougald! A balanced, thoughtful, breath of fresh air in this messed up world. I shall read on!
If I had your personal email address, I'd have sent this request to you privately. You can reply in private if you like (or here). jrivermartin (at) gmail (dot) com
I've just read your book, Dougald - I gobbled it up in a few days, after struggling to read books at all in this day and age of Substack articles that absorb most of my reading time! I have a great sense of relief and release, resonating with so much of what you write and loving your style (I'm new to your writing - thank you to Rhyd Wildermuth for introducing you to me through his podcast). I've straightaway ordered Vanessa and Chris's books, and appreciated the connections with David Cayley, Jem Bendell, David Holmgren and of course Paul, all of whom I have found valuable accompaniers during the past few years of strangeness. I'll be recommending your book to many others and so appreciate the affirmation of hope that I too have regarding those other, currently smaller paths. Thank you so much!
Beautiful! I’m grateful to you for turning me on to Vanessa’s great work, which I’ve used in my teaching. Meanwhile, I’m off to get my hands on the audiobook. Thanks for this offering and have a fine book tour!
Thank you Dougald, your work shines a light into that dark future we all sense is coming, and is already here. Safe travels and good fortune along the way.
I love Vanessa's important work, and that you are synced up with her. And thank you for your stunning last paragraph. If broken up into shorter bits, it's a Poem For the Way Through! (I wrote that before noticing that a previous commenter cited the beautiful Gary Snyder poem. ;) ) Also, as an "Earth-Sky" astrologer, I also really appreciate your presencing the need for us to "dance again with the rhythms of cosmology." May it be so.
"And we will need to rediscover that any world worth living for centres not on the vast systems we built to secure the future, but on those encounters that are proportioned to the kind of creatures we are, the places where we meet, the acts of friendship and the acts of hospitality in which we offer shelter and kindness to the stranger at the door. In this way, even now, there may be time to find our place within the vastly larger and older story of which we always were a part."
This is beautiful, Dougald. And true.
A poem came to mind while reading this.
(I replaced the poem here with bad formatting with this link.)
https://tricycle.org/magazine/gary-snyder-turtle-island/
I tried to repair the bad formatting, but it only got worse!
I received your book on advance order a few days ago and have already read it and marked up the pages with marginalia. Your words speak to me, and I especially appreciate your interpretation of the Covid years. I’m in the United States and it’s refreshing to read a perspective that is outside the binary red/blue discourse that permeates our political conversations over here.
I listened to a podcast episode where your interlocutor called your approach “gentle.” And I appreciate the gentle, thoughtful approach, as a way to possibly change some hearts and conversations. I plan to share this book with a friend or two in hopes of generating conversation around the status quo and the alternative small path(s) we could be taking instead.
Wishing you the best at the start of your book tour!
I have only just started on your book. Already it is even better than I could have hoped for. I am most definitely walking with you on the ‘small path’. I have been for a while now, and covid certainly helped with that. You’re right too that we on that path come from different places. You seem very convinced of where climate change is coming from, I am not. So we should be on opposing sides. But we’re not. I’m a ‘the science’ skeptic in all its forms, but what I am clear about is we’ve taken the wrong path. You don’t have to hold any view either way on man-made climate change to believe that. I’m loving the book Dougald! A balanced, thoughtful, breath of fresh air in this messed up world. I shall read on!
Dougald -
May I republish this in The R-Word? - https://rword.substack.com/
If I had your personal email address, I'd have sent this request to you privately. You can reply in private if you like (or here). jrivermartin (at) gmail (dot) com
I've just read your book, Dougald - I gobbled it up in a few days, after struggling to read books at all in this day and age of Substack articles that absorb most of my reading time! I have a great sense of relief and release, resonating with so much of what you write and loving your style (I'm new to your writing - thank you to Rhyd Wildermuth for introducing you to me through his podcast). I've straightaway ordered Vanessa and Chris's books, and appreciated the connections with David Cayley, Jem Bendell, David Holmgren and of course Paul, all of whom I have found valuable accompaniers during the past few years of strangeness. I'll be recommending your book to many others and so appreciate the affirmation of hope that I too have regarding those other, currently smaller paths. Thank you so much!
Beautiful! I’m grateful to you for turning me on to Vanessa’s great work, which I’ve used in my teaching. Meanwhile, I’m off to get my hands on the audiobook. Thanks for this offering and have a fine book tour!
Thank you Dougald, your work shines a light into that dark future we all sense is coming, and is already here. Safe travels and good fortune along the way.
Good luck with the speaking tour Dougald. I hope to catch you at Sheffield. Only just found your Substack . . . Look forward to future posts.