‘‘The world feels calm this morning, and that, for me, is perfection. It is the stillness that I seek. The only kind that can be found out here in these wild places; a far cry from where I started out in life when I would lie awake at night trying to silence noises that no child should have to endure. Out here, silence is plentiful, and I forget that the ‘real world’ exists for a moment.

When all is calm in my surroundings, I can hear my truest self. I know that the voice I need to listen to is the one that is buried deep inside, behind society’s constructs, and limiting beliefs that have been passed on to me through generations and by my peers. When I am out here, in the wild places, beside Eryri’s tranquil lakes, beneath majestic mountains, with the branches of the pirouetting silver birch trees wrapping themselves around my weary body, my spirit feels a certain peace, and the voice that I seek is free to speak.’’

Excerpt from Seeking Stillness, originally published 8th January, 2023.