Upstream: Selected Essays

"As with all the books I have chosen, there is a commonality of a moment where one feels not outside of the world, but part of it—and a shared wanting to re-find the moment of connection, driven by a yearning to experience that sense of belonging. I chose Upstream because Mary Oliver brings the poet’s eye and sound to her non-fiction. There is a call to be present, to be part of this natural world in the way a child is able to be; to “see it and hear it and react to it, before I knew at all who I was, what I was, what I wanted to be.” This desire to return to a more weightless state of being before the “heavy coats” of adulthood claim us. Upstream has the attention and urgency of a poet’s voice. It is a meditation on the natural world, but also a clarion call. In it, Oliver implores us to “teach the children … show them daisies and the pale hepatica … head them upstream, rejoice as they learn to love this green space they live in, its sticks and leaves and then the silent, beautiful blossoms.” Of course, this is as much a call to us as adults, in our own lives: the need to see and name and be part of the natural world, to be observant and engaged, to learn its language and its music, to let it enter our being and change us, so that we can see ourselves not as isolate and alone, but as part of something much bigger, connected to all living things. Because, as Oliver says, “Something is wrong, I know it, if I don’t keep my attention on eternity.” And the place to discover it, is in the smallest flower and seed. Too many! Recently, I have loved reading Rural: The Lives of the Working Class Countryside , by Rebecca Smith—out in June this year. I came across Rebecca’s writing a few years back, when she was a guest on the ‘ Wild Woman Web ‘ project that I curate. I found this book a fascinating and relevant read, not just for the wider conversation it engages with, but also because it spoke of my own experiences, and that of my family, who have their roots in the rural working-class world of mining and agriculture, and were forced out of their homes because of poverty. I have experienced the other side of rural life, living in social housing in a landscape where chocolate-box tourism is what most people know, and the precarity of rural living without the privilege of money or home ownership. Rural is a timely and urgent demand for attention, but it is also a celebration of the working landscape and the extraordinary ordinary life."