sling diaries - voice

Our world whispers as lanky creatures tight rope walk across sticky threads. Their dewy coating gleams in the sun and in the hush she can be heard. Her voice is subtle yet tangible as tightly wound buds yield to the sun and creak open to new heights of beauty. I hear her song when life's very beginnings swell and colour. When sunburst flesh saturates with juice and nourishing life springs forth for all who consume it.  Her words are weaved in foam and froth, in leaf and twig, in rain and warmth. And if we still our recklessness for a moment we will hear her speak of seasons, of abundance and growth, and of patience.

At times she roars all throaty and hoarse unleashing volcanic ash from her depths. Her wizardry of waves and fire and storm threaten us with their fury and we cower at the untamed beast she has become. But like any heated argument, harsh words thrown with abandon never truly convey the heart's message. We turn away from her and fill our ears with other noise to drown her out.

Our Mother Earth pleads for mercy as we rake through her beauty. Our lazy hands clumsily pick through the plethora of her offerings and cast aside those deemed not perfect enough. Are we, the inventors of machine and menace so high that her creations of leaf and fruit, water and air fail to illicit wonder? Sludge and smoke choke her throat and the fragility of her crust is compromised as we dig deeper still. Momentous growth is severed in an instance as steel bites through fibres and sweet sap bleeds and stains the ground below. From above we can watch this cancerous clearing eat its way across our majesty.

In her way she urges us to watch the sky, to herald subtleties in weather and to graze on her seasonality. She begs us to treasure her gifts; her water, her soil, her life. She is calling us in every way she knows how. Will we listen?

Steph x

I carry my babe through this magic world in a simple linen sling in twilight. The double layer of Irish linen is so very supportive for my toddler boy.

My beautiful friend Jodi Wilson so generously took these photos. Thank-you so much lovely x