Episode Details

‘I look at nature and it takes my mind away from my problems’

What do you notice in the world around you?

Artist and educator Sara Bellis - ‘I identify as geek’ - is building a community of people who are reviving the lost art of noticing. Under the banner of Get Out And Get Arty they gather in a couple of special places in Shropshire to practice nature journalling.

#INIWIRMO - I notice, I wonder, it reminds me of …

But what is nature journalling, and how can it help you?

I joined Sara and her GOGA group in Ellesmere on one of their regular visits to the area around the Mere. As well as learning about GOGA and nature journalling, we discussed …

‘I’m being called to another mission, another galaxy’

* moving to Shropshire from somewhere else

* moorhens v. coots

* women succeeding despite the pressures of society

* public art

* living with a terminal diagnosis

* conkers

* Gaza

* dogs

* what’s great about living in Shropshire (and what isn’t)

* journalism

* magic mushrooms

* coping when you can’t do your life’s work anymore

* accessible transport

* ice cream and why we all love it

* the National Trust

* death and life after

* spontaneous poetry

* relieving ME symptoms by taking your fillings out

* planting bulbs as a gesture of hope, faith and defiance

… all in this episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast!

‘Once you find the positive, cling onto it’

It’s a long episode, the longest yet, but I think you’ll get a lot out of it. It’s also very stereo indeed! For maximum effect, listen on earbuds or headphones, or maybe in the car?

Enjoying this episode? Share it with your friends:

… and join in the conversation in the comments:

What have you noticed?

Tell me what you’ve noticed lately, and how it made you feel. We could make an episode of Hello You together …

Message me!

What would you ask an MP, if you could?

Back in July I talked with Julia Buckley, the Labour MP for Shrewsbury, about her first year in the job.

I’m recording another conversation with Julia Buckley MP in a few weeks’ time.

A lot’s happened since July, so there’s plenty to talk about, but I want to know: what do you think I should ask Julia?

What topics should I bring up? What do you want to hear more about, or which issue do you want to know Dr Buckley’s stance on?

Send me a message with your question and I’ll do my best to get some answers:

Which other decision-makers would you like to hear from?

I want to get at least another couple of the MPs for Shropshire on Hello You the Shropshire podcast before too long, but who else should I bid for?

Senior councillors? Top local NHS managers? People in charge of public services?

Tell me who you’d like to hear answering questions, and I’ll put the feelers out.

And if you’re one of these people - MP, councillor, senior manager of a local service, anyone whose work affects the lives of people in Shropshire - get your people to talk to my people.

Just kidding, I don’t have people. It’s just me.

So reach out to me and let’s get something in the diary.

Bench?

I’ve got a list of places I want to go to do ‘bench’ episodes, where I just sit on a bench and record conversations with whoever happens to sit next to me.

But I’m going to restart doing those in the spring, when the weather is kinder.

Unless … you have an idea of somewhere indoors I could go? Somewhere I could sit and record chats with whomsoever’s there? Maybe at an event, or a particular location?

If you know of a place or an event