Paula R.C. Readman's Blog, page 7

Nature First

How would you design the city of the future?

Albert Einstein 

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better”. Nature can help you escape from daily stress and keep you grounded. 

I would put nature first. Everything in the city has to be environmentally friendly from the buildings to how the waste is disposed of rather than heading for landfill or incineration. This might not be what others want to hear, but the human race needs to be less materialistic.

We all have basic needs from a home to fresh food, water and clean air. The planet has enough land for everyone to have a place to live, land to grow food and to create a community. At one time in history, every race had a place to call home.

Our drive for wealth is consuming us and destroying the planet. From war to consumerism the more we have the more we want.

What should we be focusing on? In a mad rush for wealth, we are destroying our planet. It is as though the only way to live a fulfilled, happy life is to be rich. To own status symbols, expensive clothes, houses, cars and jewellery. If you can’t work your way up the ladder of success then turn to crime or migrate to a wealthier country.

In the past, we worked to gain money to buy the things we couldn’t make for ourselves, but in our modern world, it is all about statute symbols. Everything has to be bigger and better than everyone else.

In my city, it would be about how much of the natural beauty everyone could see and enjoy. Most people you speak to want a room with a view, and wide-open green spaces but in Britain today we are losing farmland and green spaces as our population growth is much faster than expected. In countries around the world, their populations are diminishing as people search for a better life.

Money might buy you a bigger house in the country, but what would happen if everyone could afford that house?

Would it lose its appeal or value?

The migrants rushing to Britain in small boats seeking fame and fortune are going to be disappointed when they discover Britain is on a downward spiral as the gap between the wealthy foreign investors and the poorer Indigenous people grows. Lack of investment in the infrastructure of British hospitals, schools, roads and British business by the British means all the wealth that put the great into Britain has been taken aboard.

Yorkshire

Most of the hard-working British tax-payers work for the benefits system, to pay the wages of the politicians, police, and armed forces while sending money to the more wealthy countries aboard.

What if we could go back to creating communities across the world where people could have safe havens that fit each cultures needs instead of a few diverse countries?

This doesn’t mean cultures shouldn’t mix but have their own space to grow while creating more harmony in the world.

What makes the world or even a city an interesting place to visit is our differences.

If every city around the world looked like New York, London or Paris what would be the point of going to visit them?

London

It’s our different way of living, foods and way of doing things and our style of dress which gives our uniqueness.

So I wouldn’t want to just create one city in one place but many cities across the globe all focusing on the natural resources and culture of that country. Building a safe environment for the people who work together providing what is needed for a healthy life, with minimum impact on the environment.

Of course, my dream could never become a reality because humanity is too self-obsessed and greedy.

Be kind to yourself and at peace with the world.

Remember to count your blessings.

Unlocked One’s Life in the Characters You Create.

What do you enjoy most about writing?

“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” —Albert Einstein

What I love most about writing is that everything aspect of my life I can use to give life to my characters.

All those hurtful comments, I experienced as child, the bullying at school, the loneliness of not quite fitting in can become the emotions my characters feel and deal with as I write their tale and bring them alive.

The saying ‘Write about what know’ doesn’t mean you need to murder someone to write about it, but maybe you have experience the raw emotions that could drive someone to commit such a terrible crime.

Have you felt a boiling rage, when put in a situation you have lost control of your anger?

Take a fresh look that awful situation and make note of it, maybe revaluate your emotions as an outsider. Of course, this might be a painful situation. Difficult to deal with, but by dealing with it from fresh perspective may release the demons and set you free.

I have found a kind of letting go while writing my books and short stories. Now, I’m more at peace with my past. It’s a way of shifting from being a victim of circumstance to taking back control. I can protect the innocent and give them the justice they deserve in my storyline.

Nothing of my past experiences goes to waste as I tell my tales and give my characters a beating heart. From falling in love, suffering disappointments, shame, hurt and embarrassment we have all experienced these raw emotions. How we handle them makes us stronger as an individual and this is what makes our writing stand out from the crowd.

Happy writing everyone.

Wildlife and Open Sky.

What do you love about where you live?

Excuse me while I kiss the sky.

Jimi Hendrix

My dream as a child has always been to live in the countryside away from all the hustle and bustle of city life. The countryside has always been my safe place. I love watching the wildlife, seeing the beauty of the natural world.

Ox-eye daisy and Lady Bird

For me, I love the English countryside as it gives me the freedom to explore. Apart from human, we have no dangerous creatures roaming the country. Of course, we have plenty of poison plants and fungus, but you have to know what’s safe to eat, and what to avoid.

English Bluebells Woods

Deep in England’s past when the dark woods were dark and full of trees wolves, bears and beavers roamed freely, then the humans came and hunted them into extinction. Now, housing is taking the land from deers, badgers, foxes, rabbits, snakes and lizards which means our wildlife is in danger.

A green lane through a ford. A ford is a river crossing.

Now the countryside around my village is threatened with thousands of new developments including new towns, solar farms, roads and an incinerator.

The population of Britain is growing at an alarming rate but not from a natural increase in population but because of an influx of migrants and refugees. My small village has doubled in size and there is more housing to come. Newcomers are now wanting to change the village by adding things like gyms, more shops, fast food outlets and restaurants because they say there’s not enough in the village for them. Yet, a short drive away will take them to two towns nearby.

Harvest is in.

I love to see the changing seasons made by changes in the natural world. Whatever tomorrow brings I hope can continue to walk the local footpaths and enjoy watching the wildlife.

Common Malachite Beetle

Peace Perfect Peace

What brings you peace?

The goal of life is living in agreement with nature.”

Zeno

Zeno was a Greek philosopher famed for paradoxes he wrote to disprove ideas of time and space. This nod to Mother Nature is one thing he said that was never debated.

I’ve been coming to terms with the death of my brother. It’s came as a huge shock which began last September, so I haven’t been in a good place for quite a while now.

Over the last two months, there has been some huge changes in my life that have made me rethink what is important to me. I need to slow down and enjoy a slower pace of life.

I have a large garden which I have neglected over many years. In one corner, a large blackthorn had stood for many years but over the last two showed signs that its life was coming to an end. So no more white flowers to greet the springtime

My niece and her partner helped my husband and I cut it down. Now there is a hole in the garden and I’m already missing the greenness of the tree. Only all I can see is roof tops.

Busy in the garden

Now I’m busy designing a new garden to give me a place of peace where nature is invited in.

Yesterday, I photographed this beauty on my runner beans in the veggie garden. At first, I thought it was a cabbage white then I realized it was a Brimstone butterfly.

This is where I find peace in the simplest of things. A butterfly on a flower. A bee on a wing, sunrise on a new day, summer rain, the smell of a freshly cut grass. If you can find peace in nature your mind will be eased and your soul rested.

Life doesn’t have to be tough. Slow down and enjoy life.

Keep smiling and be happy.

A stress-free life and peace of mind.

Are you seeking security or adventure?

 “Stress acts as an accelerator: it will push you either forward or backward, but you choose which direction.”
―Chelsea Erieau

Security or adventure? Hmm, why not have both?

If you are in a love relationship or even if you are living alone, your life can be both adventure and security.

Maybe we have to stop reaching for the stars, and evaluate our lives to find out just what we want and need to live a healthy, happy life.

This week I’m in the north of England helping a cousin downsize after forty years of collecting and saving stuff.

We all hauled things until one day we find that we never really used them, or maybe just used them once or twice. This can be clothes through to kitchen gadgets. That must-have item that was once owned just sits unused gathering dust.

We must all remember life is an adventure, and we only live once so let’s make it as stress-free as possible.

Keep in mind that we only need so little to live a happy, stress-free healthy life. A place to live, clean water, good food, and means to support one’s family.

Be happy and keep smiling

Early to Bed, Early to Rise….

What time do you go to bed and wake up currently?

Benjamin Franklin, (author of a book, believed to be a clergyman) is quoted to have said: “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise”.

I’ve always been an early bird. I’m most productive in the morning. An early morning walk set me up for the day and I get to see amazing wildlife too.

Oil beetle on bindweed.

As my husband has to be up early to travel to work, so we are in bed early during the week. The problem is we found at the weekend we didn’t sleep any later. The clock alarm is switched off at the weekend but we still wake up at five

It’s the same when we are on holiday too. The latest we find we do sleep is about seven. It good in one way as we get more done during the day. My husband tends to stay up later at the weekend, but for me I get too tired and my Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) becomes awful to the point it makes me feel nauseous.

Sleep is so important to me and my body, I try to keep the balance between getting the right amount of sleep and being active. Sleep allows the body to repair itself and for the mind to rest, too.

So for me, early to bed and early to rise brings health benefits and makes you more productive, too.

Sleep well, dear friends

Romance, who needs it?

What’s your definition of romantic?

“Love is a canvas furnished by nature and embroidered by imagination.”
Voltaire, French philosopher & writer

Romance for me is storybook tales. I find romance in the art and in the natural world. There’s romance in architecture and beauty in ancient cities.

This type of romance is safe, dependable and enjoyable at a distance.

Hylas and the Nymphs  is an 1896 painting by John William Waterhouse.

I believe in love, trust and commitment but romance, I’m not sure.

Life is a tough journey and being starry-eyed about love leaves you vulnerable. Marriage or a loving partnership should be an equal relationship, with two people working hard towards the same aims.

For me, romance makes a great story or film with its happy ever after, but life is full of uncertainties. You need more than romance to give you a happy and secure life. So be practical and leave romance for authors to write and readers to enjoy.

Have a great life.

The disappearance of farmland and countryside in Britain.

What are you most worried about for the future?

The English countryside, its growth and its destruction, is a genuine and tragic theme.

E.M. Forster

The influx of such a large, unplanned population into Britain is causing huge problems. Not only is it cause problems with homelessness , but adding more of a strain to the issues we are having in Britain.

Years of neglect by governments in the infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, roads etc means huge investments are needed. For too long governments have handed out benefits to British citizens without investing money in retraining workers or giving them skills to do new jobs rather sitting on benefits for years.

Seeing the loss of the countryside around my village because of increased of new houses needed for a growing population breaks my heart as properties are bought up by foreign investors. This pushes up the prices of homes stopping local youngsters from buying. Wages in Britain are low, and a lack of skilled workers add to the growing problem. Rents are high which add to the homelessness in the country so more houses are needed.

With less affordable housing being built because investors are wanting huge profits farmland is being sold off which put up the prices of fresh locally produce food.

Among the fields of barley

With a growing population to feed Britain, the British then become reliant on buying outside the country.

I fear for the future as we are only a small island country with a crumbling coastline. The change in the climate means more flooded farmland and housing along rivers and coastal areas in the future too.

Just my thoughts.

Oh, to be sugar free

Are there things you try to practice daily to live a more sustainable lifestyle?

I think in England you eat too much sugar and meat and not enough vegetables.

– Arsene Wenger

I wish I could have the attitude towards food I had in my younger days. I wasn’t into sweet sugary foods.

Walk into any supermarket and you see rows of sugary foods and even the savoury food has hidden sugars. Just not good for our body and soul especially our teeth. It is true, sugar is a drug

A 90 year old blackthorn.

I do a lot of my own cookery and also eat plenty of vegetables, including ones I grow in my garden. Next year, I’m hoping to create the garden I’ve always wanted and grow a wide range of vegetables. This year, I want to take out a dead tree and tidy up the rough area where it grew. We have been quoted £400 to cut it down

The old tree was part of the original hedgerow before the houses were built in the 1960s. I’m sad to see it go but nothing lives forever. I shall miss its white blossom in the Spring.

An untidy corner.

I can’t grow too much in the vegetable garden until the tree has been cut down and cleaned away. We hope to do it in the Autumn.

Hopefully, I can start planning ahead. I shall start buying in manure to fill the compost heap ready to rot down to add to the soil in the Spring next year.

I can’t wait.

Goth Mary Poppin

If you were forced to wear one outfit over and over again, what would it be?

“Clothes aren’t going to change the world. The women who wear them are.” – Anne Klein

Up until COVID-19 hit my husband and I enjoyed going to the Whitby Goth Festival twice a year. We would put together our own outfits to wear. Some of mine, I would enjoy making.

Here’s my Goth Mary Poppin outfit. Well, that’s what my husband called it.

I made the skirt, but the jacket and blouse I found in various charity shops, along with the hat I added a veil to create a more gothic look. The umbrella I bought from a shop in Whitby.

It’s an outfit I would happily wear again and again.