Now, more than ever we need something to comfort us from the cares of everyday life. A beautiful book to enjoy a dreamy stroll through our natural world & it’s wonders every evening, just before we sleep. All the great time honoured poets are here – William Wordsworth, John Keats, Emily Dickinson, Robert Bridges, along with lesser-known voices. Verses reflect & celebrate the changing seasons. Read Emily Brontë on bluebells in spring, Edward Thomas’s evocative ‘Adlestrop‘ in summer. Experience golden autumn with Hartley Coleridge, visit John Clare’s ‘Copse in Winter’. Stunningly illustrated with seasonal scenes, a wonderful anthology that inspires & delights.
Email: Quit a corporate job due to Covid-19. House-work, care-giving responsibilities. Unhappy with company’s support. (US)
Empathetic. Women around the world have been deeply affected by the pandemic. Heightened inequalities. 1 in 4 are considering leaving the workforce or down-shifting careers. Worst hit are working mothers & women in senior roles. A particularly stark disparity with parents of kids under 10.
Women report a myriad of pandemic related challenges – stalled growth, loss of connectivity with colleagues, serious physical & mental health concerns. Disproportionately affected. Key reasons are lack of flexibility, house-work & caregiving obligations. This crisis could set women back a decade.
Companies can help by re-inventing the way we work. A sustainable pace of work is essential. Much harder now to draw lines between work & home, an ‘always on’ mode. Can we look for creative ways to re-define work–life boundaries? Managers can try to relieve stress, re-assure, re-focus on key priorities, re-assess performance goals. What’s realistically attainable? Can we mitigate gender biases? Communication helps. 93% of companies say most jobs can be performed effectively, remotely. A calm & compassionate work environment where all employees feel they can bring their whole selves to work, makes great things happen. All the best.
3:00 AM: Sleepless. On non-stop calls to urgently procure oxygen concentrators, medicines & injections for critically ill Covid-19 patients in India. Clocks ticking, alarm bells for hospitals running out of oxygen in the ICUs. Ventilators shutting down. Patients gasping for air, fading out as their O2 trickles, then runs out. Zero dignity in death. Teary-eyed, sometimes helpless yet motivated.
11:00 AM: Scramble to find & order 25 oxygen concentrators for a government hospital in an economically under-privileged Himalayan area. Ones who just can’t afford health-care. Finally, success. Receiving frantic calls for support every 15 minutes. People pleading & praying to save their loved ones. Empathy & compassion means the world to them. Devastating dynamics at play.
India has been hit by a devastating tsunami of Covid-19 infections. Virus has ripped through the population, overwhelming it’s fragile health service, causing an acute shortage in oxygen supplies. We can’t even take the basics like oxygen for granted. Distressing scenes, sad stories of loss & grief. Poignant. It is clear there’s a humanitarian crisis of significant proportions. A deadly second wave that has crippled the health-care infrastructure. Vulnerable critical care systems are stressed, reeling under pressure. A living nightmare. No nation likes to lock itself down, but an immediate shutdown for 4-6 weeks could put an end to the cycle of transmission?
Scale of the heart-breaking crisis has prompted the global community to step in. India needs help to breathe again. Each minute counts. People will be indebted to those who come forward at this desperate hour of need. Donate oxygen concentrators(US$ 500-750 each).Please contact curious.creatively@gmail.com for information. Generosity is appreciated.
The economic crisis created by COVID-19 threatens to hit children the hardest. Number of children living in multi-dimensional poverty with no access to education, health, housing, nutrition, sanitation or water may soar to 1.2 billion, globally. An additional 145 million children are expected to fall into monetary poverty in 2021.
Families dependent on casual or low paid jobs have lost their livelihood. Forced to isolate due to coronavirus, have little to fall back on. A few savings, often debts. Can’t afford to stockpile food, other necessities. We face a high risk of child labour, child marriage, child trafficking, domestic abuse, streetism. Heart-breaking.
An unfortunate global crisis that requires a co-ordinated national & international response, focused efforts to both stop the spread of the virus & it’s secondary devastation. A desperate need for massive, rapid scale up of health, livelihood solutions. An expansion of existing schemes where practical. We need new, innovative projects to build a sustainable foundation with an aim to save our future generation.
Email: Tired of trying hard at work/home, rushing. No idea what to do? (Japan)
Empathetic. Sometimes, we feel tired in a cycle of trying too much. Everywhere, people including me, are rushing to the next moment. Not trying hard is seen as the worst. Sounds counter-intuitive?
But, there’s a beautiful lesson in nature. Does a cherry tree try to blossom? Does a lotus bud in a lake rush to bloom? It just is.Flows. Allows. Why are we always trying so hard? Maybe, there’s a sense that the present moment – now is not okay, not enough. An underlying restlessness that wants morequickly. More knowledge, more impact, more acknowledgement. Overwhelming.
Ironically, when we’re truly present, aware & responsive to this moment, everything is natural. The key is letting go of excessive expectations, stress. Storms get tired too, so gracefully hold on. Feel this moment as it is. Breathe.Believe with self-compassion. We may feel a little more alive, peaceful, balanced. How do we feel when we stop rushing moments? Allow this moment to unfold just as it is meant to be.
Maybe, something new emerges? A creative way of seeing things. An insight. An instinct. An intent. An inspiration. An idea. Vitality. Clarity. Hope. Wonder. A wise way forward.
Sunrise stroll. Breezy. Our world is animated by the wind. This invisible force brings any landscape alive. Its absence casts a stillness. On barren mountain tops, in the forests & at the seas, its presence becomes manifest. A wild & pristine energy.
Reflecting on nature of the wind, we see the inter-connected nature of all things. In awe of the billowing gusts that ripples waters & makes rag-dolls of trees. The beauty of wind is in its dynamism. One minute it lifts a place, the next there’s a lull. In a more rambunctious form, it’s a monster’s roar. Similarly, our energy ebbs & flows. We have moments of high energy & output, other times of rest & renewal.
When it blows, the air tattoos the surface of the canals & lakes. Trees bow as leaves, buds & branches dance to its music. Forests roll around in harmonious circles sending secret signals to the clouds, innocently waving to the skies & stars above.
Often, we see through space. Don’t notice the air as much as the earth, fire or water. Yet, it’s this space that holds everything. Nurturing & allowing all things to just be.
The wind speaks to us through sensations & sounds. Feel its presence through our skin & breath. A soft hug, a gentle caress on the cheek or deep breathing. Brings unique scents & aromas. Love the pause between gales, the stillness, the silence. Feel its firmness & flow. Can we invite this awesome energy into our own lives? Can we be as amazing as the wind – flowing & free? To spread our wings & fly? The wind is an energy that calms our mind, blowing worried thoughts & stressful feelings away. What a mysterious, life-giving phenomenon.
Slow down to watch 50 nature stories that create calm & foster mindfulness. All around us, nature is working wonders. Every day, hour by hour, magical transformations happen right in front of us. But, it’s not always easy to see them. In a beautiful collection, 50 moments in nature are paused for us to watch them in detail. To explore, see what treasures we can find when we take the time to slow down. Gorgeously illustrated to celebrate small wonders happening all around, each day.
Showcases the work of world’s leading nature photographers, The Life & Love of the Forestis a breathtaking visual tour of our most remarkable woodlands. Lewis Blackwell takes us on an extraordinary journey with essays that explore the science & incredible histories of everything from seedlings, thickets, underbrush to the extraordinary trees themselves. Captures the beauty of vibrant, fascinating landscapes, celebrates the spectacular, stunning splendour of forests around the world.
