A pilgrimage to the North Sea

Annstead Dunes

The last time I was here was 12 years ago and both the weather and my life were in an appalling state. It had meant to be an anniversary holiday but I ended going alone with my life in tatters. I sat and watched an almighty storm with crashing waves with utter despondency.

It was that day which I realised that I wasn’t very well and I wasn’t living my best life which began a journey , a long 12 year journey of seeking something better and what fits me. Happiness is mutable but creating contentment in our life aligning it to what makes your heart sing is our own responsibility.

Today the sky is beautiful blue and the tide out revealing rock formations perpendicular to the beach covered in seaweed with channels of sands and bays intermittent along the shoreline. It is sculptural and each pocket of water holds momentarily stories of the sea.

There is wisdom in knowing that everything changes and it things will get better but different , you want it be different , right ? The dark moments we move through guide us to something more aligned to our souls.

I contemplated moving to the coast but I love the ritual , sometimes spontaneous, trip to the seaside and it would not have that special relationship of a needed pilgrimage to the seaside when the sea air and walk along a beach is the only remedy of feeling heavy as it always does without fault lifting the spirit.

The only regret is that I am fasting this week and the smell of Fish and Chips was enticing , I won’t make the same mistake again as it smelled delicious.

I absolutely love scouring the beach and rock pools and when you get closer to the seaweeds they become jewels and as the day was so bright they sparkled. You have to go hunting a wee bit but there are reds , lime and an array of other greens , ochres and many other colours.

Annstead Dunes is just north of Beadnell, Northumberland which there is a carpark with toilets and cafe but you can park on the grass verge, personally I like to pay parking as the money goes back into the community.

The dunes and shoreline are a designated nature reserve which the best time to go for wildflowers and native plants is June/ July but this time around I needed to return and show myself to the sea how much my life has changed and that now I live in Northumberland which I would never of thought of 12 years ago.

Whatever I screamed into the storm, it listened and here I am.

The sea listen if you need to talk , like Mother Earth they cradle life,. The North Sea is magnetic and a highly spiritual place. I told it my new life and intentions , said a prayer for my parents as I miss them, I had a few tears to let go my past and joyfully sought things to photograph without need for them to be anything but fun. Even as a 15 year boy living in Manchester , the other side of the country, I went on walking trips to North Yorkshire coastline.

I love the stories of Doggerland , 10,000BC, which was replaced by the North Sea, where it was lush and fertile land populated by hunter gatherers. Sometimes after a storm petrified tree stumps reveal themselves on the shoreline and I think about the people who lived there and what their relationship with the place was. How did they honour nature and what wisdom could they share. It brings this place alive for me as I am not only walking along beauty but through history which expands into something greater than myself.

I am transfixed by sea shells not only their Fibonacci sacred geometry but the vast array of colours each one seems to have its own particular identity.

I will take a few home with me as a connection back to a place which helps with my memory , or at least I use that as an excuse. A couple, no more will pop into my bag and maybe some sea glass if I can find them plus if I spot an unusual shaped or coloured stone. I know the beach has gems to be found which in time I may go to collect small pieces to make some pigment but I prefer if using natural pigment to come from the places which inspire my art.

Hareshaw Linn

Who remembers playing helicopters with sycamore tree seeds ? Sycamore were introduced by the Romans but quickly found its place in folklore and the landscape. Associated with homes for fairies and spirits and connections to the other dimensions. I watched a documentary on trees where they explained “Mother Tree” within a woodland and it brought mind both the Norse and much more ancient Egypt cultures of associating it with Goddesses. Although in a different language than western academia our ancients understood how trees and nature communicated creating communities to flourish.

You can feel the energy shift in plants as it has done what it needed to be done and now gifting creatures of their produce with reciprocity of the next year harvest.

When I first began painting I loved bright colours , I still do , but now nature has persuaded me that I should explore muted earth colours. Wandering through the woodlands and verges the shapes and textures also inspire me as structure reveal themselves or something poetical reveals itself which infuses into me.

I had been this week fasting which has helped create some clarity. It is difficult for my brain to voluntarily seek words and I feel quite stupid but quite often I will awake bursting with ideas or resolve of something like magic. This has a lot to do with Aphanstasia and through changing my thinking process to align to how my brain works has helped with this. My writing has to be from a flow and often comes out disorganised which then takes me time to organise.

Mindfulness has helped me learn about how my brain functions so I may use it to my best way.

It is Fungus time and that spells FUN for me , there is something special in seeking them out to photograph or to forage. They are the sign that a massive network of mycelium is operating beneath my feet , another secret world and in autumn little antenna’s pop up to have a look around and leave some food for creatures.

This is an amazing time and a wonderful introduction to wandering woodlands seeking out magic , noting where they flourish and waiting for the year after to see if they pop up elsewhere.

A few die hard flower petals remain holding onto the very last of the summer to remind us of perseverance and resilience .

Bull Crag Peninsular

There is still vibrancy in Bull Crag and these wee red plants are emerging low down in the grasses just to say the colour show hasn’t quite finished yet. This is the joy of finding your own nature place as it always comes up with a surprise however well you know the place.

What a difference being in the sunlight does as summer is certainly extending well into September for Bull Crag. One moment I think that’s it , but some more surprises of colour pop up.

But even here the march of time towards the end of the year has its toll on the plants but watch their transformation during this time. There is beauty in their transformation and that is a skill one can learn to see and feel. It begins with mindfulness noticing , developing a quality of curiosity and beginning to befriend nature and then you start to begin to see with your heart you see it more.

My little purple headed punk rockers have all gone maverick with their new hair styles. After flowering, a pappas , cotton like material , is formed which allows the wind to disperse their seeds for the next year. Next year that mosh pit will get bigger.

Bakethin Nature Reserve

I love finding little stories in nature and it doesn’t matter to me that the story nature is blessing me with, whether it is new growth , vibrancy of summer or the fall into winter. In mindfulness we use the term “no judgement” and when we notice sensations within our own body we can just be with it cultivating acceptance. It provides us an opportunity to get to know ourselves better.

Cultivate the qualities of “no judgement” to what you see in nature. It is all beautiful in is own particular way.

The nature pond is now transforming from its amazing lushness during this summer that high energy and buzzing with life is muted now in anticipation of stillness and returning to source. The bull rush is defiant and wondering whether it will endure the month leaving it as a solitary figure as a memory of a hot summer.

As everything reduces back for winter it becomes more challenging to find things to photograph or just look at if that’s your preference. Look at the challenges as fun of seeking out things and exploring how you perceive what is in front of you. Have a rummage around for a little gem waiting to be found. I consider the plants as my friends and my muses taking my time to say hello , noting where they were and making a picture.

When in abundance then photograph it , pick some for a vase or maybe draw it for a painting. Just as you have photographed it once doesn’t mean you cannot photograph another. Do not treat it as a tick list but as a flow of life through moment to moment finding wonderment in your natural environment. That connection is the key.

Thank you for reading.