Louise Macdonald / TALK TO ME PEOPLE!

Last morning in Knoydart – and I’ve realised I’ve been pretty light on detail about the activities we’ve been doing over the past few days compared to everyone else. Oh dear – I think I’m getting blog-anxiety! But then, if as a reader you want to know the blow-by-blow account of what happened when, you can always check out the others – I’d recommend them as a great read anyway!

But the bigger question is what am I hoping for from this blog? It’s a pretty big topic, saving the planet, so where do you start? Bit like eating an elephant I suppose – one bite at a time. This is just the start of a conversation and over the next six months the themes and ideas will emerge – and the challenges at a micro and macro level both personally and globally. I’d like it to be a conversation that is shared with people I know and those that I haven’t met yet. All contributions welcome – responses, questions, dissent and musings – feel free. Open discourse is the name of the game. I’m not doing this because I think I have any answers to these big questions – quite the opposite in fact. But I am clear the time has passed when we can just pretend it isn’t happening and hope someone else will fix it – there is no someone else – it’s down to us.

 

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There are 7 comments on TALK TO ME PEOPLE!:

  1. Martin Raymond:

    Hi Louise,

    You find the most fascinating groups! This is an amazing idea - I haven’t had time to read all of the site but the core idea is very inspiring.

    I wish you luck and will keep dropping by the site.

    I’d recommend Kenneth White - if you haven’t read him, he’s Scottish about 99 now but full of ideas - his concept is Geopoetics - http://www.geopoetics.org.uk/ not quite what you guys are up to - but interesting all the same - i’d have a look at Open World his collected poems.
    Very best wishes
    M

    October 2nd, 2008 at 9:00 am
  2. Bob Forsyth:

    Thank you for adding me to your list of ‘blogees’ Louise. Wow! what a fascinating initiative. Looks like a great opportunity for personal reflection and learning as well as creating new ideas for you to influence what Young Scot does and how it does it. I’m acutely interested in the research model and could see this being applied in several contexts to address a range of different issues. I hope you enjoy this opportunity and, literally, keep us posted!

    October 2nd, 2008 at 9:18 am
  3. Lorraine Spalding:

    Hi Louise
    What an exciting journey of self discovery, I can feel the impact on you as your blog progresses. Having just uprooted my family from Edinburgh to a small village in the Cairngorms to get more in touch with nature - as a family - with myself, the project strikes a chord. I feel as though there is more questioning going on about what work/life balance actually means and what really matters in life on an individual, family, community and society level. I guess I feel that if as individuals we connect more with the seasons, the landscape, the weather and nature in general, our impact is more measured and somehow, our lives more meaningful. I am aware this is sounding a bit new-agey (why do we feel we need to apologise for this, newage needs a re-brand!) but as I have had my foot to the floor, racing to achieve whatever, I do feel I have given myself the chance to pop my head up and look around.
    Enjoy your experiences, I will be interested to pursue your blogs and those of others on the project.
    Lorraine

    October 2nd, 2008 at 9:52 am
  4. Graeme A Boyd:

    If we all cut down on things,even just a wee bit,especially when at the supermarket—do we REALLY need all this stuff ?
    And when using our cars on a small journey—-just walk instead. I’m scared what we’re turning into—things are not looking good–we HAVE to change.
    I did it last year and with some of the saved cash I joined WWF and SPCA to donate every month.
    Keep up the good work Louise—-it’s inspirational.

    October 2nd, 2008 at 11:36 am
  5. Mr.Faboo:

    An intriguing few days by the looks of things. I’ll be interested to see where and how the exercises/experiences carry over into “real life” practicalities.
    Also, I’m reliably informed that the lighting effect in the photo is known as “buddha rays” and very impressive they are too. Great picture.

    October 2nd, 2008 at 12:17 pm
  6. Davy:

    Open discourse? Ok. What is Young Scot doing to confront the massive environmental challenges we face? A lot of this seems to be very individualistic but you all work for or run big organisations that could make so much more impact than your individual reflections.

    October 2nd, 2008 at 1:03 pm
  7. louise:

    Re “Open discourse” - absolutely. But change starts with the individual right? It can’t be imposed. So, the (crudely put) question as this project progresses is how do we move this from being the domain of eco-missionaries - which as far as I can tell is the situation more generally at the moment in relation to sustainability - to something that has mass awareness and participation? I am concerned that this could look like self-indulgence, but surely it’s only when you believe something yourself, you can communicate it effectively to others?

    October 4th, 2008 at 5:06 pm

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