Hello dear readers, and welcome to the new edition of the Voice for Arran. We have an eclectic mix of articles this issue, pieces that take us from the shores of Corrie and Holy Isle, then across to Irvine before heading off to the more distant climes of Nepal. To return once again to this beautiful warm day at the start of June, as well as to the undefined political space we currently find ourselves in, as we head towards a fast approaching general election.
Waiting for candidates to be confirmed and manifestos to be published, at the moment I have no idea what the parties are proposing, or which party I will be able to vote for! And while organisations such as Greenpeace are filling in the space with much needed and necessary recommendations for a greener society, perhaps it is a space too that is rich for opening to our imaginations, and allowing ourselves to contemplate, outside the business-as-usual terms, just what kind of world and society it is that we want to live in…
But before we get there, the day calls for a dive into some of those lovely summery things to do on Arran – rejuvenating swims in the sea (perhaps with basking shark included), or exploring the wild flowers along the coast… So in Herbal Lore we learn about the ‘Yellow Flag’, the stunning golden Iris that springs up along the shore at this time each year, and which historically was used as a remedy for all sorts of ailments, including coughs and bruises and “evil spleens.”
Then on Holy Isle, we are taken on a tour of some of the exquisite wild flowers discovered there last month. There is a feeling of discovery and adventure, enabled just by a slower pace and the time taken to really open to what is around us. The Holy Isle explorer writes, “We see more when we slow down… If we stop and look, there are small worlds at our feet.” Or as Christina Riley, Nature Library founder and now resident in Irvine, encourages, reading a book and spending time in nature both offer, “new routes of knowing, experiencing and caring for the natural world at a time when it needs our attention the most.”
In a year, as Rob Hopkins writes in The Ministry of Imagination, where nearly half of the world is going to the polls, something else, and something else quite radical is needed. He says that voters will undoubtedly be asked “to choose between deeply unimaginative manifestos, all firmly wedded to a business-as-usual economic model that is clearly and dangerously failing around the world.” But what if instead, there was a manifesto “that was based on a positive vision of the future, one that is appropriately ambitious to the scale of the challenges the world is facing while at the same time bold, imaginative and audacious?”
A manifesto that perhaps included things such as a universal basic income, creative spaces for everyone, legally binding rights of Mother Earth, an attention academy? And instead of a National Service for all 18 year olds, how about a National Nature Service or National Transition Service where everyone is invited to give some of their time. With colleagues and comrades, Rob has published such a document of the imagination. It makes for inspiring reading and points to a whole new world of possibility.
It is time for me to go outside, perhaps to discover some of this world, or enjoy the sunshine at least! We hope you enjoy the issue and feel the channels of imagination flow… Elsa
