There is no advice here...

just new ways of seeing things

Dearest Friend,

This month, we went hiking in the New Forest, which is an area of ancient forest in a triangle of land between Southampton, Bournemouth and Salisbury.

Did you know that the New Forest was given its name in 1079 by William the Conquerer? He didn’t want it retaining its original Anglo-Saxon place name of Ytene.

So, we hiked through ancient stands of trees and along primordial bubbling chalk streams in the New Forest.

I love that juxtaposition of perspectives. What is now old was once new.

It seems that no matter where I look nowadays, I am receiving advice. I am told how to organize my time in the most optimized way. I am told how to cook dinner. How to raise my child. How to organize the files on my computer.

If you have a question, you will find a thousand articles online with conflicting advice on how best to do that thing.

Oftentimes, this advice is interesting and informative, sometimes it is even helpful. (Just sometimes, mind you).

Did you know that the word “advice” actually comes from the Latin for “to see?” (Ad + Visum which is the past participle of videre ‘to see.’ From which we also get vision, video and even visa, which is something you show to a passport office.)

So, really, the original sense of of the word advice was a way of looking at something, then later ‘an opinion given’.

But, let’s go back to that original meaning of advice. I think we all need to practise seeing things from different perspectives. I know I need that practise.

So, as I walked through ancient Ytene, I tried to imagine the Anglo-Saxons tramping along those paths… and before them the ancient Celts.. and before them the Hallstatt cultures… and before them…?

Then, of course, the newness of the Normans arrived, with their conquering armies and fancy names.

I tried to see the forest from all those perspectives.

I emerged into the bright daylight feeling like life was deep and rich and full of mysteries. Sometimes simple bullet-point lists of tips and advice just don’t do justice to the complexities of life.

The thing about building a good life is that it is both incredibly complex and incredibly simple.

One consequence of being able to see life from many perspectives is developing the capacity to recognize two opposing truths at the same time.

Tomatoes can be both delicious (to me) and deplorable (to my daughter). A book can be fascinating (to me) and boring (to my husband). These things are all true, all at the same time. And that is okay.

A forest can be both new and ancient, depending on how you look at it.

I hope you can find a tree to hug this week,

Jane

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May Sketchbook

I don’t have that many “daily” drawings this month. Some months are more hectic than others; this was one that spun me around in a spin-cycle.

I draw “every day” just like I eat five servings of fruits and veg “every day.” I don’t (haha!), but I certainly try to. Sometimes routines need to be gentle to fit in with the demands of life.

Lots of time spent in Richmond Park.

A stormy full moon.

Endless loads of laundry. Lights and darks.