For me, music flows through the air as freely as wind moves through trees. Each note is like a wave, an impulse, an energy. Its lightness is invisible to the eye, but its presence can be felt all around you, with a magnitude as mighty as any Oak.

Music can soar like a bird or be as delicate as a feather floating down from the breeze. It can touch us and linger there.

We are all affected by The Arts and The Natural World, even if this influence sits beneath the surface in our subconscious mind. Our world is forever encouraging us to rush through the day. The radio or audio player in our ears as we are running in a park or drowning out the noise on our ever-hectic roadsides to a destination.

We may not notice the bird song in our streets or stop to look up at the beauty of the skies, but we are forever in its presence.

What do we define as The Arts? A theatre production, a film, concerts, a piece of music, a painting, a poem, a literary piece of work or prose, a sculpture, a much-prized Bansky image on a city wall.

How many of us associate ourselves as being Artists? We say we cannot paint or play anything, and therefore,we close ourselves off to this creative process, and only those processing certain ‘gifts’ can fully appreciate it.

But how many of us know that both Nature and the Arts are the most profound healers of all things sorrowful and sad? How we take off in our cars at the earliest opportunity, or by foot,or bike to seek out the abundance of the natural world to ingest its wonderful elixir of life, through our five senses. Visits to gardens, museums, art galleries, the countryside or flowing streams on a warm summer day, or a bracing walk by the sea in the winter.

In fact, I believe that most people crave peace and beauty, which can be found in the natural world and that  Mother Earth is expressed in multi-faceted ways through The Arts.

A novice observer, a beginner, an introduction is all it takes to create momentum. A chance encounter, an idea turns a thought into a reality, a new way of seeing things for the very first time, of what was hiding in plain sight. A symphony of a new life can be born.

Open your eyes, your ears and above all, your hearts,you are going to go on a journey you may not have been on before, as it is my intention to capture it here.

I’ve nearly finished the most beautiful book, ‘Notes from Walnut Tree Farm’, by the late Roger Deakin (a good friend and fellow travel companion to the great nature writer Robert Macfarlane). It was through reading McFarlane’s book ‘The Wild Places’ dedicated to Roger, that prompted me to seek out his own work.

It was Roger’s words in the opening pages of Nature Notes that I read over and over again, saying to myself:

“Yes, this is how it is, these words are perfect and describe one of the Arts so well.”

I quote:

‘Music is like the decorative, symphonic possibilities of a wood: endless combinations of notes or twigs, leaves and wind, branch shapes against the sky.’

It inspired me with the opening lines of this rejuvenated blog and gave me an idea of a poem to be called,‘The Music of Trees.’

Now, I understand why I love Nature so much and totally ‘get it’ why I love the Arts and the natural world together. To me, they are one big canvas, full of potential exploration and discovery of all that is beautiful and wonderful. It is the balm that soothes my own soul, and connects experiences from the past, present and hope to my future.

How both are combined so perfectly, creating a massive pull for anyone who decides to stop and see with fresh eyes for the very first time how this force can be truly life-changing.

It has for me!

I hope it will for you.

Next time:

The Chelsea Flower Show and the overall design winner. ‘Gardens on the Edge’- a perfect example where art and nature can come together to create a most powerful message about the need to protect our environment around the fringes of town and cities.

I hope you will continue this journey with me.

Reference: Nature Notes from Walnut Tree Farm, Roger Deakin, edited by Alison Hastie and Terrence Blacker, Penguin Random House, Uk @2008 page 16.

All images are my own apart from the image of the house and water taken by Marcus Boughen my son-in-law.