an invitation

We reap what we sow (and so I sow) 31st May – 8th June 2018 Plot 23b, Melstock Road Allotments, Kings Heath, Drawing on Slow Movement philosophies Polly will be in residency daily in the week prior to the Slowing and Stilling conference, and will be holding an open space for all who wish to...

Day 6

Before dawn. Then sunrise. I hear church bells at exactly 4.48am. Wild things are closer and unconcerned. I catch slugs at it, the birds morning chorus quietens as the city wakes up. I hear bin men and the distant roar of traffic begins. I am confused about whether it has rained or whether it's dew....

Day 5

I dig fairly consistently for nearly two hours.  It's hard work, but easier than it has been as it's the second time for that patch. I'm told that it hasn't been cultivated for over a decade, and I can feel that. After digging out brambles and thistles I covered it for a year to kill off...

Day 4

Three hours flies by. I'll do four tomorrow. I wish I had all day. A day gardening the garden yesterday. Slow also. First day of my cycle which used to mean that I was full of energy, but recently it means fatigue and slowing more. Even if I wanted to be fast it would not...

Day 3

I'm tired and don't have many words. Reuben picks some stones out for me. It's so hot. We are impressed by the size of the mint, and he asks me if we can make chewing gum from it. I tell him that won't work, but that we can take some home for tea later. Sandra...

Day 2

There’s a quiet, stillness here. I can hear birds calling to each other & the wind in the trees. The distant rumble of traffic acknowledges that this is a landscape nestled in a city space, and occasional sirens call the prayer of the inner city. Yet: there is a slowing and stilling in this place....

Day 1

I teach SRT class 2 this morning for Birmingham Dance Network at DanceXchange. Walking there I reflect on how fitting that is: to be leading that lovely work before this work. The breath is our constant companion  and we cultivate the watchful state with sudden supple moves (Skinner 2011). It’s a joy to witness. A question...

Sonder

n. the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness—an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in...

Process

​Process  (noun) a state of being in progress or being carried on; on course; a narrative; a series of actions or events; a sequence of operations or changes undergone. The Chambers Dictionary, Charpers Harrap, 1999