15 March 2009
One upon a time sort of place
16/Mar/09 19:33 Filed in: Thought for the Day BBC Wiltshire
The BBC rang and asked if I would do Thought for the Day again, this time pre-recording live. I had one evening to quickly put my thoughts together, decided I would take people on a journey I had recently taken. I talked of my Greek Odyssey, time out in a remote location in Greece, without MAINS ANYTHING. A retreat in the true sense of the word. No electricity, etc, earth loos, lanterns, limited water supply, no computers/emails etc. Sensational SILENCE instead. Took my video camera, but decided not to use it unless it really felt right. Instead wrote a journal, took some photographs and essentially soaked up the daily rhythms of life; hard physical work, balancing and quietening the mind. Time to breathe.
Went with a friend who had just been made redundant, we started as city slickers, being hysterical at how to problem solve nearly every five minutes, with regard to the blocked sink, the hunting puppy dogs on the loose, the mad cat, the generator, the car that couldn't make it up the remote track, to enjoying slowing down, really slowing down. With electricity the brain looses its static. We ended up playing a lot. Being creative. I moved stuff around in the house, a lot. Decided it was okay, the owners were away, I would be a borrower. Created little scenes, tableaux made from stories shared by the local farmer and his mum. We found an old cottage, an isolated dwelling with a beautiful blue door and powder blue bed. A once upon a time sort of scene, I decided this was the place, so I filmed there 'The Doctor's Table & the Blue Bed'. We were told it was an Austrian Dr's cottage, where he used to come 'to simply breathe'. I have dreamed about it a lot since and would like to make a film installation and show it somewhere and talk to people about the inner silence a certain place can bring....
Went with a friend who had just been made redundant, we started as city slickers, being hysterical at how to problem solve nearly every five minutes, with regard to the blocked sink, the hunting puppy dogs on the loose, the mad cat, the generator, the car that couldn't make it up the remote track, to enjoying slowing down, really slowing down. With electricity the brain looses its static. We ended up playing a lot. Being creative. I moved stuff around in the house, a lot. Decided it was okay, the owners were away, I would be a borrower. Created little scenes, tableaux made from stories shared by the local farmer and his mum. We found an old cottage, an isolated dwelling with a beautiful blue door and powder blue bed. A once upon a time sort of scene, I decided this was the place, so I filmed there 'The Doctor's Table & the Blue Bed'. We were told it was an Austrian Dr's cottage, where he used to come 'to simply breathe'. I have dreamed about it a lot since and would like to make a film installation and show it somewhere and talk to people about the inner silence a certain place can bring....