How to be more Creaturely
More a list of the things that made me feel definitively human.
Wear boots on the beach. Draw while you walk. Forgive drivers who beep at you as they only thought you were in the way. Stare at spider’s webs. Dance when you feel sad. Listen to stories more. Don’t act interested- be interested. Lay your head in the grass. Wear things made of wood. Stop caring about your hair- or your stomach. Think what your mother would have done- not what she would like you to do. Stop eating when you’re no longer hungry. Create only because you want to and not because you hold some expectation to. Do not care for the outcome. Or the reception. Propagate plants. Give them away. Try to avoid sharp edges while you walk. Step on big rocks, not the angular ones. Practice by stepping over pavement cracks in cities. Swim alone. Forget small mistakes. Put sticky notes of important things on your window. Don’t let them block the view. Sit on sills. Leave gaps. Plant saplings you find that probably won’t make it where they landed. Swim in rivers. Collect sea glass and washed-up buoys. Weave grass and wool and stems and put rounded sticks in it all. Only lock your door when you feel like it. When the weather is stormy. Leave the windows open. Crouch more. Pore over maps. Put your favourite stones on the plates of your houseplants. Listen to the dawn chorus. Watch pond skaters. Leave bread out on the windowsill to cool, watch the steam rise in the sun. Pick rosemary. Make slingshots from plantains. Aim them at people you love. Skim stones. Never hear the crunch of soft plastics again. Show people the view from the top of the hill. Wear your mother’s clothes. And your father’s. Drink from streams. Jump off things. Have a conversation with the bus driver. Open a door with a comedically big key that clunks as it unlocks. Watch the wagtails fledge. Realise that this is our first time being alive. Cross stepping stones. Take physical notes. Climb trees. Walk barefoot. Sit in nooks with your back pressed against the wall. Watch the wind move the ferns. Be kind to strangers. Be more honest. Hang things from branches. Walk until you feel it. Give book recommendations. Build more. Create without discouragement or fear. In fact, pretend that these things do not exist. Talk to the postman. Tell people how comfy your boots are. Give your friends lifts to the bus stop. Chase the bus when it leaves early. Be thankful for the rain. And then be thankful for your shelter. Smile softly when someone cuts you off. Make more. Be thankful for your sadness. Outlast it. Take a nap. Go to the pub. Stretch. Knock on your brother’s front door. Tell your own stories. Shake hands when you meet strangers. Skim stones. Stare at the light dancing over the ocean. Tie up a rope swing. Let someone else swing on it first.