Autumn Update

Some highlights form the last month..

Hey Friends…

Lots has been happening over the last month both in my (and I am sure all of your) lives, it feels difficult to synthesise it all into one blogpost so I thought I would give you highlights reel from the last month at Schumacher.

But first, a little outline of what a typical day in my life has looked like lately: My room is on the Dartington Estate, ‘up the hill’ as we call it, I usually wake with the morning light (not the sunrise as that happens much after it gets light up here in the North), I start my day with some yoga, a run on the estate or a now freezing swim in the river Dart (I thought I was a seasoned cold water swimmer until arriving here where my swimming has really been put to shame, it is more like a leap, a squeal, a slight hyper-ventilation and I am back out of the water). For some reason muddy rivers underneath grey skies seem much less manageable than the Atlantic ocean even if the temperature is comparable. After my morning activity I then cycle ‘down the hill’ to the Old Postern where we have classes, eat most of our meals and generally hang. You can think of the Old Postern as a kind of giant clubhouse that all the students have equal access to. Sometimes you will find a someone planning the piano, a communal puzzle being complete on the coffee table, a fascinating conversation being had at the coffee station… something intriguing, inspiring or entertaining is always on the go. So much so that I am often having to remind myself to take some time out on my own. For the last month we have had most classes online as it has been the ‘low-residency’ period of our course, a few other international students have stayed on site and it has felt like an intimate family. At some point in my day I usually take a stroll around the redwood forest behind the Postern and cycle home at night, listening to the tawny owl hoot as I drift off to sleep (its amazing I hear the owl hooting almost every evening!).

My humble yet perfectly sufficient bedroom.

So that’s a little bit of what the average day looks like, back to the highlights reel:

Getting sick

Although getting sick is never a highlight (especially when far from home and not being able to access corenza-c), the silver lining was how cared for I felt by everybody here; I ended up with an international apothecary in my room full of home remedies from all over the world ready to cure any illness. And now that I am better here is to hoping my immune system is all prepped and ready for the British winter (she says with gritted teeth!).

Global Apothecary…

Mushroom foraging in Dartmoor

A couple weeks ago after a big rain we ventured into the woods in Dartmoor National Park to do some foraging, needless to say this is mushroom land! There were all types, everywhere and fortunately we had a fellow student with us who knew what to look out for, the mushrooms were bought home and meals and healing tinctures were conjured up!

Mushrooms everywhere…

Luke & Flo’s song

Two of my lovely friends here created a beautiful Schumacher Song; a few weeks ago we had another shake of uncertainty around course continuation and teacher job security, this song became a kind of encouraging anthem to keep out hearts hopeful:

Side note: we have a commitment from the powers at be that courses will continue to completion for those concerned.

Visit to Bristol for Local Futures Summit

At the end of our last residential period a group of us went to the Plant Local Summit organised by Local Futures in Bristol. There were many highlights from this trip; first of all hearing the likes of Charles Eisenstein and Bayo Akomolafe speak in the flesh was a real dream come true and I had to hold myself back from engaging into full fan-girl mode. It gave me incredible hope, not only seeing these people stand up on stage and share their thoughts, stories and ways of being that look towards a loving and connected future, but more so that there were crowds of people engaging with and being inspired by these ideas. I left the conference feeling inspired and connected. Bristol in itself was a really fun place to visit, there is a strong localisation movement happening there and you can really sense it. Instead of a Starbucks on every corner there are unique and locally owned coffee shops, this diversity makes it an interesting and soulful city to visit, as though there are plenty authentic nooks to discover.

Making Kimchi

Vorrey, one of the chefs in the Schumacher kitchen is a fermentation specialist (among other wizardry), and we spent an afternoon making Sauerkraut and Kimchi. Hands were sore from massaging kale, there were plenty of smiles and we are all looking forward to having healthy microbiomes for the coming months!

Abhi and the cabbage…

Completion of my first assignment

With module 1 complete I handed in my first assignment, my assignment focussed on the act of rooting (or routing) it looked into how it is that we become indigenous to a place and what that means for us in the world we live in today. In the end the assignment included some imagery and poetry - I loved having the permission to bring these creative sides of myself into the academic world, in past experiences I have felt that I have been asked to leave these parts of me outside of the classroom. There was something quite healing about this assignment and approaching it in this way… looking forward to what’s to come!

Mum & Dad in Totnes

My parents came to visit which was lovely! They hired a car and I got to visit the ocean for the first time since arriving in the UK, it felt like a coming home in some way feeling the salty goodness on my skin. We spent some time in Dartmoor which was special, but most of all it was such a pleasure to show them my life here, to weave together these different parts of myself and feel a greater wholeness in someway for it.

Mum & Dad in the Redwoods…

Visit to London

After about a month and a half of life on Dartington Estate and having completed my first project I decided a trip to London may be a good change in pace (the Boks getting into the rugby world cup final was another draw card to seek out a group of UK Saffas). My visit to London was incredibly contrasting to life in Totnes, the change was initially welcome and invigorating but in the end the pace of the city felt like it took its toll on me. I felt incredibly grateful to return to the leafy green estate, what a privilege it is to have the option to live a quieter life.

While in London I also joined a cease fire protest with regards to the Israeli/Palestine conflict. It is difficult for me to write about this as my words about how I feel don’t seem to have fully formed yet (additionally I feel quite fearful of unintentionally offending or being insensitie due to my ignorance). However, what I do know is that when attending the march and while being on the constant edge of tears I was left with an overwhelming feeling that most (if not all) people want to live a good life and want others to live a good life too. Most people are good and wish goodness for others. Most people are completely heart-broken and feeling hopeless. Most people do not want to live in a world where this type of tragedy is a reality. Yet the systems we exist within allow this to happen.. looking at this in this way gets us all to ask really big and scary questions. I feel overwhelmingly grateful and priviledged to be spending time in a safe and nurturing space that encourages the asking of these questions, and I wish the same for all of you. If we cannot say no to this reality and dream a better world into being it will not happen.

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Thank you for reading and sending you all so much love… may we all remember our connections to each other.

xxx