Hello!
Something a little different this week…
An offering that has been germinating in my heart since autumn when I started spending much needed down time walking in the forest.
The forest has always been my home, soul home, and walking through it has been pilgrimage. Words are never enough to describe how much this little act of walking in the forest means to me…which is ironic considering I have attached a zine full of words talking about just that.
A lot of the words in this zine were penned after walking in the forest. I find the most clarity, about who I am or where I am, during my forest walks. You will often find me sitting in the car for hours after sweating like a pig, journalling vigorously.
A lot of what I have learnt especially about myself, has come from this exercise of gently walking around the forest, and then writing about it. Everytime I decide to take myself to the forest, it feels like I am being given a lifeline, another option, another possibility, another perspective, something that would not have been possible to do while sitting at home.
I know I am doing a shit job of explaining this.. so I will just share this clip of MARY OLIVER talking about it…
Anyway I have been thinking for a while (4 years-ish), what is it that I could share with someone in hopes that they might enjoy it or get something out of it too (apart from this “newsletter”), something that may even subtly help them! So here I am, opening up my solo forest walks to friends who might be interested in walking and journalling together.
Date: Sunday 31st August
Time: 7:30 - 9:00am
Where: Toohey Forest entrance at Isabella Street, Brisbane
bring a notebook you love :)
RSVP by clicking the link, just so I can send you a calendar invite / any updates in case its raining.
I have attached the full forest walk zine to this email, if poetry and trees are your thing, give it a read, let me know what you think! And if its something you’d like as a hard copy, I can mail you a printed version, if you leave your mailing address here.
And as always, thank you for the encouragement over the past few weeks, while I find my way back to writing and sharing. Thank you for being open to my experiments. I will get back to regular programming next week.
With love,
Hitashi
I rediscovered my love for the musician Cat Power, after hearing her song Manhattan in the movie Materialist. SHE IS SUCH A VIBE. ICANT.
Somehow I have been baking cakes almost every week, since July and honestly I still dont love it, and I still SUCK. if anyone has tips. i dont understand chemistry, so explain to me like I am 4.
Finally finished watching Too Much by Lena Dunham, and I am so glad such shows exist, a little bit of dreaming, a little bit of darkness and a whole lot of being yourself.
What practice(/s) do you undertake to find clarity, whether its in understanding where to go next or who you are or where you are at right now?
As always, a lovely post. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and your zine! Your beautiful prose and photography really transported me. You really summed up why I love to walk and why I don't wear headphones or listen to music when I do. I want to be fully immersed and take in all the sounds, including that of my own inner voice.
I have no tips re: baking. I don't bake a lot, but when I do it tastes pretty good I guess. Although, I don't attempt anything too complicated. I think one thing to avoid is overmixing, as it can cause the gluten to become chewy?
I am going to add 'Too Much' to my watchlist.
To respond to your final question about practices to find clarity on where you are and where you are going...I keep a moon diary. This is a fairly new practice. I started it on the Last Quarter Moon in Aries on 19th June. Every time the moon is new or full and sometimes when it is in the 1st or last qtr, I do a little reflection - tied to the theme of the moon, whether that be about beginnings, endings, release, intention setting, and the sign it is in. It is a nice temporal landmark which I find helps me to check in with myself on a regular basis. So far I am really enjoying it!