There’s something in the air these days and months. It could be the scent of change. I receive signals and news of future loss, paradigm shifts, system collapse and climate breakdown. And I don’t know if I’ll make it… or if any of us will.

They’re stark words aren’t they…

When I go out with participants into wilder places, there is bustle, chat, friction, juice, fire, desire, play, curiosity and wonder in the group. Walking with your eyes closed in Tentsmuir Forest or wading in the sea with bold seals approaching and daring and living such full lives, these doomsday thoughts are not present. What is really happening in the world…? I just can’t say – and no one ever could – or will. I am in a state of awe out there, and there is grit in my belly and between my teeth – a kind of determination to love this world anyway, whether the future has a place for us or not. Kinship, in the noun sense of the word, makes for a redemptive kind of dissolution of ‘me’ and ‘mine’, shakes me up and gives me the whole interconnected world back. And I know that kinship is a way to break through those stark possibilities to live ‘one wild and precious life‘ (Mary Oliver). There is a lot of work to do and wild rengagement still to foster – however much time is left on the clock.

There was sweetness and fire in the Forest. Here are some moments from the three summer solstice days we spent together.

I’d like to thank the participants and Scottish Dance Theatre for their support in making this special workshop what it was. Thank you.