Relational journalling
A space to practice, reflect on and share personal methods of relational co-becoming
The energy drain of the city
But it’s not just the stimulus of the city, it’s also it’s material nature. It turns out that the sympathetic nervous system responds differently to trees, grass and concrete: concrete environments do not restore physiological wellbeing, as measured through skin conductance levels. Fascinating.
I miss abundant nature
I miss the horizon. It’s disorienting. I can’t see the sun or the direction of the clouds and the wind. It’s been raining here but I can’t understand the context of the clouds - how big are they, where are they coming from, how long will the rain last.
‘Self-in-place’-based knowing
I thought I would apply my field journalling skills here in Germany to see how well I could understand relations of place. Of this place. But it seems that I am learning more about my ‘self-in-place’ rather than the place itself.
Decolonising my diet
Native Australian bushfoods are known to be highly nutritious, so why are they so lacking at our markets?
Coffee as an energy flow
Those who choose to ‘drink in’ are part of a slower energy flow. They have made a choice to dwell.
Material relations
Those fences are material infrastructures that keep wallabies and kangaroos out and keep my ‘area of responsibility’ in. But they are not neutral. They reflect colonial property rights regimes and Aboriginal dispossession. They are political and historical artefacts
Assembling compost
When I was spreading the compost out, over what will become my salad garden , I felt elated that this compost emerged from my acts of assembling relations between my energy, more-than-human life and the physical elements of the garden; that I had a hand in this rich, gorgeous, nourishing product, in which I will be growing food
Flows and rhythms
“It feels very much like flows and rhythms are a useful way to enter relations on this chaotic yet peaceful tropical island.”
On snake watch
“Biodiversity must extend to the snake. The invitation must be for the frogs, lizards and snakes. The features of the garden that invite other species, also invite the snake.”
Living with the seasons
I am going to practice sensing the seasons. And not as the four distinct markers in a calendar, but relationally.
Stepping into poetry
“Reading this text encouraged me to pen something, there on the beach. I had a notebook, as usual, and so I did. Here is what I wrote, just to try out this way of dissolving the sense of self.”