Vimala Thakar: Spiritual Revolutionary 1923 – 2009
I wrote this tribute to Vimala Thakar back in 2009 after she passed away. I had the privilege of meeting her on several occasions and have always been inspired by this extraordinary woman. With Renate Keller’s new film about Vimala being released, I dug out this piece.
Coming to our Senses
“These days I don’t think of myself as a gardener, birdwatcher, or even a nature lover – it seems more that I’m just inextricably part of it all, and that is its own fulfilment.”
Urban Gardening in the Anthropocene
Anthropocene: the current geological age, viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment.
A Requiem for Nature in Britain
Our hearts go out when we see one of those awful pictures of a disoriented, lost Orangutan in the debris of clear cut rainforest somewhere in Indonesia, which up to a few hours ago, had been the Orangutan’s ancestral home for millennia.
Belonging
Spring evening, still and glimmering gold
Walking along the allotment path, my legs feel weighty.
Sinking consciously, pulled earthward with each step
My steps are not my own
I somehow sense that it is the earth itself taking steps.
From Seniors to Elders
Senior citizens, OAPs, retirees. Doesn’t sound so inspiring, in the way this vast and growing segment of our population is sometimes referred to, does it? Now of course I know many older people have a very hard time, coping with chronic illness, poverty, disabilities and loneliness, all compounded by years of governmental austerity in Britain.