Ahh you are an angel for saying so my lovely, thank you so much. I have to admit feeling very shaky after that comment but it was just one person, sticks and stones right! I hope you are well lovely… I know you will be looking forward to autumn and winter mists arriving soon! This year, after the horrendous heat of the summer, I too will feel the relief! Much love xxx
Susie, Thank you for venturing forth and writing inclusive of many voices. Environmental writing is like walking where I’ve never seen a hill I did not want to climb, bird song not heard or track not savored.
Susie, I guess I missed something somewhere. Remember how many, many people in countries around the world adore your writing. I am one of them. Sending love and hugs from this side of our tiny planet. x
Dear Susie, I am just blown away in the most perfect of ways by your words. I feel nauseous at even the thought of you deleting your account and these rippling, beautiful pieces of your soul that you are so generous in sharing with us disappearing. You would break my heart 💛
Bless you for all your kindnesses dear Emily, I too felt nauseous at the thought of hitting the delete button, I have poured hundreds, probably thousands of hours and my whole heart into A Hill & I, it took a few days to realise but I was damn well not going to let one sour comment destroy that. It would have broken my heart too… thank you for always being here my lovely friend xxx
Bloody right! I’m so glad. I am working my way through a bunch of questions to create for myself a ‘creative compass’ of sorts - and when contemplating this question - When you strip everything back — the goals, the audience, the platforms — why do you create? - my answer was simply this, to make beautiful things…. Before social media, before the internet was even invented, I drew and wrote and made things. When there was no one to see them other than my friends and family. And as much as they might be kind and supportive, in the end, it was always just about capturing and creating beauty. And that is what you do Susie. Never let anyone make you believe otherwise xx
That is exactly the thoughts I have been holding on to Emily, I don't do this for any other reason than giving pleasure and sharing beauty... in the end it really is everything and everything is more than enough.
I hope your week is an easy one lovely... Monday is looming again! xx
Susie, I could not possibly love this more. You are indeed the sparrow freed from the stairwell, and you are soaring so beautifully though these words of yours. I am honored to call you a friend, and I am, as always, totally transported by your photos and your stories. I can't wait for more! Thank you.
Through receiving the kindnesses sent by you dear Kendall and so many others too I am feeling my wings stretch again, I thought they were broken, I see now that in fact it was but a few lost feathers and they are growing back. Thank you, thank you, thank you for helping them become strong again, they would not be so without you. xx
Oh, dear! Dear, dear, dear. I know not of which you speak. But I can lighten your path with these words. There are a handful of people who I read here who delight me as much as your words do. That was before I even "knew" you. Now I know you are a saint, so your words make complete sense to me. That's not even scratching the surface, for your pictures are like a dream come to life. In short: I think you are wonderful times infinity.
Secondly, an old quote I heard from somewhere has found use, yet again: "Never take criticism from anyone you would not go to for advice." Amen.
Keep being you, Susie! You are perfect and lovely and wholehearted. We should all be so lucky. xoxoxo
Dearest Danielle, your message is such a beautiful and soothing balm sweet soul, I will carry it in my pocket to read again and again as needed!
I think, perhaps there are people that maybe don't mean to be mean, they just say things as they see them, they are spades and the clubs in the pack not the hearts and diamonds, what is so very hard for the receiver of such cards is that they are never armed at the right moment with enough of the right cards themselves to win the game. So, they must begin again!
I believe that quote wholeheartedly too... Amen indeed!
I also believe that a good soul is only noticed by another with an equally good and honest soul... which makes me the lucky one - from this one to yours I send infinite love and thanks xox
"Our writing comes from deep within us, not to fulfil any misguided dreams of discovery but because we have big, warm hearts that beat fast and furiously when we stumble upon beauty." A lovely line Susie, and I hope you will continue to stumble upon beauty.
My warmest and very belated thanks Jeffrey, stumbling across beauty is never a difficulty here, finding the time to write about it however, like a walk in the dark. I think I see a pin-point of light in the distance though... I hope!
I think I said this last time but it seems life is designed to be 'learning by trial & error' -- which usually means lots of trials and lots of errors. I'm not sure what god designed this modus operandi for humans..., ... I still have a hard time accepting it.
Meanwhile (also reiterating a previous comment) I am impressioned that authenticity is more important than some cultural and fleeting definition of 'perfection'. And authenticity is always to be found somewhere in that process of 'trial & error'. It's a kind of strange take on a win-win situation - something that only a god with a deep sense of humour could cook up.
I don't recall ever learning anything by the book Josh, always it's been a trial & error necessity depicted by time allowed and sadly, money, I believe entirely that nothing in terms of creativity that comes too easily is worth pursuing, ease is akin to boredom and complacency... I agree with you, however, it is certainly not the most practical 'modus operandi' but without doubt character building when efforts are maintained.
Authenticity? That slippery sucker? I think it has become harder and harder to be 100% original in this day of everything imaginable being shared and videoed and blogged planting ideas, thoughts, beginnings and endings...
I will stick to trial and error, imagine error highlighted and hope that tickles the sense of humour of those gods you speak of rather than disgusts them!
Heartfelt thanks, I hope your last day of summer official is summery... here without doubt, it is autumny!
I agree. There are so many influences battering our minds these days, that knowing if one is acting from authenticity is hard to determine. Hence trial-&-error being the go-to guide.
Last day of Summer here brings blue sky, crisp air, and a slight panic I have not yet got anyone to fix our roof before winter. Well at least I've got most of the winter wood in and stacked ready in the cellar.
Dear Susie, I have missed reading your gorgeous, heartfelt, poetic prose. I have missed being transported by your dream-state images. I admit that I have read very little on Substack for months, except the momentary drop into Notes, what's immediately in front of me, and then off again. So, it is with enchantment that you called me into beauty as only you can express it. I am humbled that it was by mention of my own words (and that you read them) that brought me to your letter. The depth and sincerity with which you face the world, as so poetically revealed in your A Hill and I, is a gift. I pray that whatever words ripped a tear in your heart may disappear from that inner chamber of tender aliveness within you that offers such beauty. Sending love across the ocean.
Dearest Renée, my deepest thanks to you dear one, I too have missed reading your beautiful, quiet reflections. Substack is a demanding place, both in time and and concentration; like you I show up in Notes, rarely scroll further than three or four posts and I am called away to any one of a hundred life-things that need attention elsewhere...
I think it is entirely acceptable and perhaps makes the feeling of being noticed and read yet more humbling to the heart.
I loved both of your last writings, 'The heart as an organ of perception' caught my breath and held it motionless until this line "the heart is a chamber of feeling the subtle emanations of the invisible." where it left my body in a gushing 'yes!' - this will sit with me for many days.
The tear in my heart is healing, I wait for the scar only to be less raw...
I send love back to you, from the chill of this Sunday, a timely end to summer's wrath. xx
Dear Susie, I read your words with deep appreciation. And it is just as heartening to read that your heart is healing and that the intense heat there is subsiding... ❤️
Thanks for popping by Jonathan, I am slowly listening my way through and loving your audio week, apologies for lack of comments, the gods of time have neglected to notice my lack!
I'm so glad you're listening Susie and please don't worry about comments etc, I totally get it. A few weeks the kids moved out (for the first time) and I feel like I'm swamped! I thought it would be the other way around and I'd have all the time ion the world, but as you say the gods of time are having a laugh at my expense!
I hope this post is the catharsis you need to turn that ugly page and move on. There is another year of seasons upon us with la rentrée, bringing so much for you to share...
With every step closer to autumn I can feel inspiration bubbling again Betty, the relief is immense! Since ‘that comment’ I have felt like a wild animal trapped in a cage with no door to freedom. Even my camera has lain forgotten… I am infinitely grateful to you and every other person that has encouraged me to continue, I would still be that miserable creature looking for the way out again without.
Thanks to you, the delete button will remain untouched. xx
Paul, my most heartfelt and belated thanks, to have made your day a little brighter means the world to me, it is everything I wish for - I hope that this day too is made beautiful by someone. Thank you my friend!
As proof of concept that great storytelling is something profoundly beyond perfect spelling and universally agreed upon grammar, I submit one of the great essays from which I think I could learn at least nine of the ten most important things about writing and being a writer worth the reading: Like you!!!
A cow, summed up by a 10 yr old:
"The bird that I am going to write about is the owl. The owl cannot see at all by day and at night is as blind as a bat.
I do not know much about the owl, so I will go on to the beast which I am going to choose. It is the cow. The cow is a mammal. It has six sides —right, left, an upper and below. At the back it has a tail on which hangs a brush. With this it sends the flies away so that they do not fall into the milk. The head is for the purpose of growing horns and so that the mouth can be some-where. The horns are to butt with, and the mouth is to moo with. Under the cow hangs the milk. It is arranged for milking. When people milk, the milk comes and there is never an end to the supply. How the cow does it I have not yet realised, but it makes more and more.
The cow has a fine sense of smell; one can smell it far away. This is the reason for the fresh air in the country.
The man cow is called an ox. It is not a mammal. The cow does not eat much, but what it eats it eats twice, so that it gets enough. When it is hungry it moos, and when it says nothing it is because its inside is all full up with grass."
The whole passage is delightful - especially the way it starts by trying to describe an owl, then gives up and turns to cows. Born to write, this kid.
(Via "The Complete Plain Words" by Ernest Gowers.)
When I read your stories I feel as if I am sitting beside a warm fire with a trusted friend. I'm never quite sure how you manage that but I'm pretty sure it's not because of your spelling of tonne, as in "What an absolute tonne of bullshit some offer where they should be saying thank you!"
We, your fans can feel your stories, and sometimes your awe, which leaves us feeling our own sense of awe. We adore that about you. Lap it up like warm milk.
Don't you dare change a goddam(n) thing or start in trying to get all purfeck an stuff. As my old friend Mr. Rogers used to say, "I like you just the way you are."
Love ya' tuh pieces! and sorry for all the heartache.
I truly hope, my dear and treasured friend, that if there is a place we go to in a life after this one I have the very good fortune to find you and an owl who "cannot see at all by day and at night is as blind as a bat" and cows who have a fine sense of smell being the reason for fresh air all waiting at the entrance, that all kindred souls who never have a chance to meet, other than through a network of fibre optic wires, are sent to this place for the one important purpose of finally giving hugs they have longed to give where hugs are deserved, I cannot think of another who would warrant one more!
Though should it be so, I feel I must warn you; I will shed many tears which will probably ruin whatever plaid shirt you are wearing, ask to borrow your neckerchief to wipe them away, hand it back with a tearful smile and hug you again. Maybe bring spares...
As my dear papa would have said, 'forewarned is forearmed'!
Davey, I loved and needed this little passage of laughs. I have never even heard of Earnest Gowers but 'sure as eggs is eggs' I will be looking him up and taking notes, he sounds like another that might perhaps deserve a hug!
From the very deepest place I store them - reserved for moments of absolute gratitude for someone such as you - I send thanks and love and fibre optic hugs because its as much as I can conjure.
You make me smile every time Davey, what an extraordinary friend you are. Bless you. X
PS Have you ever read HE Bates 'The Darling Buds of May'? Pop Larkin always said things were purfeck... they never were but in his eyes they couldn't have been anything else!
I don't scare all that easily my friend. Tears. Hugs. Warnings. I live for these things, you know. And neckerchiefs... I've always got one in my back pocket and one ready to go. The gratitude is mutual and my admiration is as real as it gets... I know all too well the feel of the dagger piercing, bits of bones shattering, heart muscle, rending, so your laughter on the far side of that feels for all the world like a gift. I'm so pleased that you are feeling better.
I am not yet acquainted with H.E. Bates' The Darling Buds of May, but I intend to remedy that. And I thank you for the introduction...
May your day be kind, Susie. And may your personal brand of magic be just the thing for some achey kid's soul today. Namasté
loved the images and the extraordinary journey, Susie 🌻
Many thanks Darren 🌿
"There is so much beautiful knowing in the word ‘friends’ isn’t there?"
Yes, indeed there is. What a treasure to be able to call you friend.
May you follow the lead of your beautiful hill and find yourself vibrant and pulsing once more.
Thank you for all the beauty you share, Susie--not just your words and photographs but also your gorgeous, emoting heart.
🙏🏼♥️😘
I’m so happy you did not delete your account, my dearest Susie! Your wonderful storytelling and your fabulous photography would be missed greatly
Ahh you are an angel for saying so my lovely, thank you so much. I have to admit feeling very shaky after that comment but it was just one person, sticks and stones right! I hope you are well lovely… I know you will be looking forward to autumn and winter mists arriving soon! This year, after the horrendous heat of the summer, I too will feel the relief! Much love xxx
Susie, Thank you for venturing forth and writing inclusive of many voices. Environmental writing is like walking where I’ve never seen a hill I did not want to climb, bird song not heard or track not savored.
Susie, I guess I missed something somewhere. Remember how many, many people in countries around the world adore your writing. I am one of them. Sending love and hugs from this side of our tiny planet. x
Bless you Louise, thank you for constant encouragement from the other side!
The episode is forgotten, swept away with the dust of summer where it will remain.
Much love back to you my lovely friend. xx
Dear Susie, I am just blown away in the most perfect of ways by your words. I feel nauseous at even the thought of you deleting your account and these rippling, beautiful pieces of your soul that you are so generous in sharing with us disappearing. You would break my heart 💛
Bless you for all your kindnesses dear Emily, I too felt nauseous at the thought of hitting the delete button, I have poured hundreds, probably thousands of hours and my whole heart into A Hill & I, it took a few days to realise but I was damn well not going to let one sour comment destroy that. It would have broken my heart too… thank you for always being here my lovely friend xxx
Bloody right! I’m so glad. I am working my way through a bunch of questions to create for myself a ‘creative compass’ of sorts - and when contemplating this question - When you strip everything back — the goals, the audience, the platforms — why do you create? - my answer was simply this, to make beautiful things…. Before social media, before the internet was even invented, I drew and wrote and made things. When there was no one to see them other than my friends and family. And as much as they might be kind and supportive, in the end, it was always just about capturing and creating beauty. And that is what you do Susie. Never let anyone make you believe otherwise xx
That is exactly the thoughts I have been holding on to Emily, I don't do this for any other reason than giving pleasure and sharing beauty... in the end it really is everything and everything is more than enough.
I hope your week is an easy one lovely... Monday is looming again! xx
Susie, I could not possibly love this more. You are indeed the sparrow freed from the stairwell, and you are soaring so beautifully though these words of yours. I am honored to call you a friend, and I am, as always, totally transported by your photos and your stories. I can't wait for more! Thank you.
Through receiving the kindnesses sent by you dear Kendall and so many others too I am feeling my wings stretch again, I thought they were broken, I see now that in fact it was but a few lost feathers and they are growing back. Thank you, thank you, thank you for helping them become strong again, they would not be so without you. xx
Oh, dear! Dear, dear, dear. I know not of which you speak. But I can lighten your path with these words. There are a handful of people who I read here who delight me as much as your words do. That was before I even "knew" you. Now I know you are a saint, so your words make complete sense to me. That's not even scratching the surface, for your pictures are like a dream come to life. In short: I think you are wonderful times infinity.
Secondly, an old quote I heard from somewhere has found use, yet again: "Never take criticism from anyone you would not go to for advice." Amen.
Keep being you, Susie! You are perfect and lovely and wholehearted. We should all be so lucky. xoxoxo
Dearest Danielle, your message is such a beautiful and soothing balm sweet soul, I will carry it in my pocket to read again and again as needed!
I think, perhaps there are people that maybe don't mean to be mean, they just say things as they see them, they are spades and the clubs in the pack not the hearts and diamonds, what is so very hard for the receiver of such cards is that they are never armed at the right moment with enough of the right cards themselves to win the game. So, they must begin again!
I believe that quote wholeheartedly too... Amen indeed!
I also believe that a good soul is only noticed by another with an equally good and honest soul... which makes me the lucky one - from this one to yours I send infinite love and thanks xox
"Our writing comes from deep within us, not to fulfil any misguided dreams of discovery but because we have big, warm hearts that beat fast and furiously when we stumble upon beauty." A lovely line Susie, and I hope you will continue to stumble upon beauty.
My warmest and very belated thanks Jeffrey, stumbling across beauty is never a difficulty here, finding the time to write about it however, like a walk in the dark. I think I see a pin-point of light in the distance though... I hope!
I think I said this last time but it seems life is designed to be 'learning by trial & error' -- which usually means lots of trials and lots of errors. I'm not sure what god designed this modus operandi for humans..., ... I still have a hard time accepting it.
Meanwhile (also reiterating a previous comment) I am impressioned that authenticity is more important than some cultural and fleeting definition of 'perfection'. And authenticity is always to be found somewhere in that process of 'trial & error'. It's a kind of strange take on a win-win situation - something that only a god with a deep sense of humour could cook up.
I love your writing, by the way.
I don't recall ever learning anything by the book Josh, always it's been a trial & error necessity depicted by time allowed and sadly, money, I believe entirely that nothing in terms of creativity that comes too easily is worth pursuing, ease is akin to boredom and complacency... I agree with you, however, it is certainly not the most practical 'modus operandi' but without doubt character building when efforts are maintained.
Authenticity? That slippery sucker? I think it has become harder and harder to be 100% original in this day of everything imaginable being shared and videoed and blogged planting ideas, thoughts, beginnings and endings...
I will stick to trial and error, imagine error highlighted and hope that tickles the sense of humour of those gods you speak of rather than disgusts them!
Heartfelt thanks, I hope your last day of summer official is summery... here without doubt, it is autumny!
I agree. There are so many influences battering our minds these days, that knowing if one is acting from authenticity is hard to determine. Hence trial-&-error being the go-to guide.
Last day of Summer here brings blue sky, crisp air, and a slight panic I have not yet got anyone to fix our roof before winter. Well at least I've got most of the winter wood in and stacked ready in the cellar.
Dear Susie, I have missed reading your gorgeous, heartfelt, poetic prose. I have missed being transported by your dream-state images. I admit that I have read very little on Substack for months, except the momentary drop into Notes, what's immediately in front of me, and then off again. So, it is with enchantment that you called me into beauty as only you can express it. I am humbled that it was by mention of my own words (and that you read them) that brought me to your letter. The depth and sincerity with which you face the world, as so poetically revealed in your A Hill and I, is a gift. I pray that whatever words ripped a tear in your heart may disappear from that inner chamber of tender aliveness within you that offers such beauty. Sending love across the ocean.
Dearest Renée, my deepest thanks to you dear one, I too have missed reading your beautiful, quiet reflections. Substack is a demanding place, both in time and and concentration; like you I show up in Notes, rarely scroll further than three or four posts and I am called away to any one of a hundred life-things that need attention elsewhere...
I think it is entirely acceptable and perhaps makes the feeling of being noticed and read yet more humbling to the heart.
I loved both of your last writings, 'The heart as an organ of perception' caught my breath and held it motionless until this line "the heart is a chamber of feeling the subtle emanations of the invisible." where it left my body in a gushing 'yes!' - this will sit with me for many days.
The tear in my heart is healing, I wait for the scar only to be less raw...
I send love back to you, from the chill of this Sunday, a timely end to summer's wrath. xx
Dear Susie, I read your words with deep appreciation. And it is just as heartening to read that your heart is healing and that the intense heat there is subsiding... ❤️
Thanks as always Susie for a both grounding and floating read :)
Thanks for popping by Jonathan, I am slowly listening my way through and loving your audio week, apologies for lack of comments, the gods of time have neglected to notice my lack!
I'm so glad you're listening Susie and please don't worry about comments etc, I totally get it. A few weeks the kids moved out (for the first time) and I feel like I'm swamped! I thought it would be the other way around and I'd have all the time ion the world, but as you say the gods of time are having a laugh at my expense!
I hope this post is the catharsis you need to turn that ugly page and move on. There is another year of seasons upon us with la rentrée, bringing so much for you to share...
Never hover over that DELETE button again!
With every step closer to autumn I can feel inspiration bubbling again Betty, the relief is immense! Since ‘that comment’ I have felt like a wild animal trapped in a cage with no door to freedom. Even my camera has lain forgotten… I am infinitely grateful to you and every other person that has encouraged me to continue, I would still be that miserable creature looking for the way out again without.
Thanks to you, the delete button will remain untouched. xx
PS La Rentrée a été un vrai cauchemar!
Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that. Will DM you about la rentrée…
Pause before delete!
“Exquisitely imperfect”
we are, yet we try.
I paused
reflected (quietly)
I will continue with love
💛
Reading your beautiful writing this morning has made my day! Thank you!
Paul, my most heartfelt and belated thanks, to have made your day a little brighter means the world to me, it is everything I wish for - I hope that this day too is made beautiful by someone. Thank you my friend!
Dearest Susie,
As proof of concept that great storytelling is something profoundly beyond perfect spelling and universally agreed upon grammar, I submit one of the great essays from which I think I could learn at least nine of the ten most important things about writing and being a writer worth the reading: Like you!!!
A cow, summed up by a 10 yr old:
"The bird that I am going to write about is the owl. The owl cannot see at all by day and at night is as blind as a bat.
I do not know much about the owl, so I will go on to the beast which I am going to choose. It is the cow. The cow is a mammal. It has six sides —right, left, an upper and below. At the back it has a tail on which hangs a brush. With this it sends the flies away so that they do not fall into the milk. The head is for the purpose of growing horns and so that the mouth can be some-where. The horns are to butt with, and the mouth is to moo with. Under the cow hangs the milk. It is arranged for milking. When people milk, the milk comes and there is never an end to the supply. How the cow does it I have not yet realised, but it makes more and more.
The cow has a fine sense of smell; one can smell it far away. This is the reason for the fresh air in the country.
The man cow is called an ox. It is not a mammal. The cow does not eat much, but what it eats it eats twice, so that it gets enough. When it is hungry it moos, and when it says nothing it is because its inside is all full up with grass."
The whole passage is delightful - especially the way it starts by trying to describe an owl, then gives up and turns to cows. Born to write, this kid.
(Via "The Complete Plain Words" by Ernest Gowers.)
When I read your stories I feel as if I am sitting beside a warm fire with a trusted friend. I'm never quite sure how you manage that but I'm pretty sure it's not because of your spelling of tonne, as in "What an absolute tonne of bullshit some offer where they should be saying thank you!"
We, your fans can feel your stories, and sometimes your awe, which leaves us feeling our own sense of awe. We adore that about you. Lap it up like warm milk.
Don't you dare change a goddam(n) thing or start in trying to get all purfeck an stuff. As my old friend Mr. Rogers used to say, "I like you just the way you are."
Love ya' tuh pieces! and sorry for all the heartache.
Davey
I truly hope, my dear and treasured friend, that if there is a place we go to in a life after this one I have the very good fortune to find you and an owl who "cannot see at all by day and at night is as blind as a bat" and cows who have a fine sense of smell being the reason for fresh air all waiting at the entrance, that all kindred souls who never have a chance to meet, other than through a network of fibre optic wires, are sent to this place for the one important purpose of finally giving hugs they have longed to give where hugs are deserved, I cannot think of another who would warrant one more!
Though should it be so, I feel I must warn you; I will shed many tears which will probably ruin whatever plaid shirt you are wearing, ask to borrow your neckerchief to wipe them away, hand it back with a tearful smile and hug you again. Maybe bring spares...
As my dear papa would have said, 'forewarned is forearmed'!
Davey, I loved and needed this little passage of laughs. I have never even heard of Earnest Gowers but 'sure as eggs is eggs' I will be looking him up and taking notes, he sounds like another that might perhaps deserve a hug!
From the very deepest place I store them - reserved for moments of absolute gratitude for someone such as you - I send thanks and love and fibre optic hugs because its as much as I can conjure.
You make me smile every time Davey, what an extraordinary friend you are. Bless you. X
PS Have you ever read HE Bates 'The Darling Buds of May'? Pop Larkin always said things were purfeck... they never were but in his eyes they couldn't have been anything else!
I don't scare all that easily my friend. Tears. Hugs. Warnings. I live for these things, you know. And neckerchiefs... I've always got one in my back pocket and one ready to go. The gratitude is mutual and my admiration is as real as it gets... I know all too well the feel of the dagger piercing, bits of bones shattering, heart muscle, rending, so your laughter on the far side of that feels for all the world like a gift. I'm so pleased that you are feeling better.
I am not yet acquainted with H.E. Bates' The Darling Buds of May, but I intend to remedy that. And I thank you for the introduction...
May your day be kind, Susie. And may your personal brand of magic be just the thing for some achey kid's soul today. Namasté