Encouragement Files

(15-25) Field Notes for Curious Minds

Apr 16, 2025

Hopefully, it will be a gentle nudge for you to shout up for the creativity that lifts your spirits, and a chance for you to celebrate the folk who offer a counterbalance to the downbeat in a world gone mad.

`Thoughts`

Somewhere along the way, public discourse lost something as it drifted into an era of us or them, this or that, black or white, either/or, with us or against us. It takes us back to the politics of the playground. You are a mod or a rocker, sport or study, blond or brunette, lager or bitter. Hey folks, what about nuance … okay, maybe not the word, but the behaviour. Sporty folk can go to the library, they can like Taylor Swift and Led Zeppelin, read historical romance and know the batting averages for the Dodgers … folk can like burgers and tiny morsels with foam on the side … you can love the opera and the movies … it goes without saying that you can laugh at a raucous comedian AND still be moved to tears by Henryk Górecki’s 3rd Symphony.

Nuance, let’s hold tight to it. Just saying.

Beyond Substack

P H O T O G R A P H Y

While it is clear that some adventurers contribute - in damaging ways - to the environmental challenges writ large in the climate emergency, others - like photographer Sebastian Copeland - are using their work to raise awareness.

‘If beauty is our unifying link to nature, it may well give the heart the arguments to commit the mind to a program of action. Because we save what we love. Seeing and listening to nature have been central to my work. But when nature speaks and we fail to listen, photography can make us hear with our eyes.’

Sebastian Copeland

I N T E R I O R S

If your dream cabin is not in the woods but high on a Norwegian mountainside, it makes sense to protect it. We’d all wear a hood to keep out the wind, wouldn’t we, so why not dress our architecture for the elements too? Dream cosy dreams.

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Airman's Odyssey

T R A V E L

With apologies to any readers who very kindly take our weekly (non-Substack, soon-to-be monthly Field Notes for Curious Minds), this guide to Antwerp and Ghent may look familiar. But good design bears repeating, and seeking out.

An April Day
Joseph Seamon Cotter Jr.

On such a day as this I think,
On such as day as this,
When earth and sky and nature’s whole
Are clad in April’s bliss;
And balmy zephyrs gently waft
Upon your cheek a kiss;
Sufficient is it just to live
On such a day as this.

SIX OF THE BEST

The hedgerows and orchards in our rural corner of France are brimful of Spring colours and dainty blossoms that somehow defy strong breezes and April showers. The beauty is uplifting and compelling so we were easily drawn to this introduction to the Japanese sakura season:
“ … this year, I decided to fully lean into sakura season—visiting more spots around Tokyo and even taking a few long weekend trips. As proof of my commitment, I even did the unthinkable: I visited Kyoto during peak bloom, famously beloved, but infamously crowded …”
Sakura in Bloom, Spring Still in Waiting
Burcu Basar
In troubled times the arts are needed most, to make sense of things, to illuminate the darkness. This piece by
Elif Shafak
makes the case so beautifully, celebrating as it does The Great Gatsby, 100 years old this year:
“Literature teaches us so much without ever trying to teach or preach.
It helps us remember the untold past, imagine the unforeseen future, and grasp the uncertain present.”
We Read, We Write, We Belong
While the Arts can lift our spirits and teach us universal truths, we also have our imagination to transport us to sunnier uplands. This week we ‘set off’ with
Alexander M Crow
on an epic imagined adventure.
We shouldn’t need a special day to celebrate women - but it is vital that we do have that day - this week,
Lynn Fraser
shared an astonishing and brilliant celebration of women, recognition for every single day.
© Lynn Fraser ‘Mongolia 2016’
Heartrendingly beautiful words inspired by sumptuous photography by
Gretchen Decker

My heart is shattered. Broken into the tiniest of fragments sprinkled like glitter on a sea of tears.
Shattered
Autumn Minnitte
We are thrilled to have discovered a new (for us) publication The Possible City. This gorgeous photo essay about Kitakagaya, far less a place and more a way of being, seems the perfect place to start; we may be some time:
But quickness and efficiency are typically not valued here in Kitakagaya like they are in Osaka’s city center. Certainly not like they are in Silicon Valley. With few exceptions, slowness and a certain brand of inefficiency are part of life here.
A Japanese Neighborhood Where Time Stopped
Patrick M. Lydon

R E A D

A reading challenge - 25 books first published in 1965 to mark a milestone birthday, my own ‘year of publication’. What is your reading plan for 2025?