Hello, generous readers. Thank you for giving RedLands — my thoughts and words — your attention, when there are so many other calls on it.
Whether you’re new here or not, you are welcome. This post is an interlude amongst my usual pieces — it’s a post about who I am and what to expect here. I like to know the people behind the things I read, and thought you might like to as well.
Find your hope, then, on the ground under your feet.
Your hope of Heaven, let it rest on the ground underfoot.
The world is no better than its places. Its places at last
are no better than their people while their people
continue in them. When the people make
dark the light within them, the world darkens.
– extract from ‘A Poem on Hope’, by Wendell Berry
Who am I?
I’m drawn to asking questions, listening deeply, and connecting with others and with the extraordinary miracle of being alive. I’m (still just) in my late 30s and live with my husband and young daughter in rural Devon, in the UK’s Westcountry, having lived around the UK and the world.
I’m a writer. I’ve written for publications including Caught by the River, Plough Magazine, Spelt Magazine, Resurgence Magazine, Geographical Magazine, The Ecologist, National Geographic Traveller and Dartmoor Magazine. I write (and read) about things like re-villaging, books, community, ecology, motherhood, mystery, and how we relate — and could relate — to the Earth and each other. I’ve also written extensively for charities and local government. I’m working on a book.
I’ve been deputy editor at Resurgence Magazine (the UK’s longest-running environmental magazine), I’ve led a charity that works around the world, and I was an elected District Councillor in rural Devon up until May 2023 — my four-year term ended two days before I gave birth to my daughter. I’m a qualified coach, and enjoy working with people who are exploring writing, work, purpose and spirit. I’m also a qualified hillwalking guide. Scroll down for some other, more miscellaneous responses to the question ‘who am I?’
Why ‘RedLands’?
The name comes from the colour of the soil in places that have shaped me — mostly Devon and Zambia, but also Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda and elsewhere. These soils nurture light and hope, community and creativity, heaven and earth.
What to expect here
Like the soil it’s named after, I hope that RedLands will nurture things: words and relationships, ideas and hope, possibility and aliveness. Recent posts look at poetry and belonging, books and motherhood, writing and ‘decisive moments’. There are threads that tie everything I write together: a curiosity about who we are, about how we come alive and tune in to beauty, about how we live bravely and create and gather and care, especially when the world around us can feel, at times, fragmenting and uncertain. As I spend more of my time writing, alongside mothering, I’ll be investing in RedLands. I’ll draw wisdom from people and books, poems and community, questions and mystery, and share it all here.
Why subscribe to RedLands?
Much of the content here is free, and I’m grateful if you subscribe to it. I’m trying to make a living too, and becoming a mother (to a sweet girl who sleeps *very* badly) has underlined the need to spend my limited time wisely. Offering paid as well as free subscriptions is one way to do this, and so if you find value in RedLands, I’d be so grateful if you considered supporting my work with a paid subscription, or by sharing it with others.
In addition to my regular short essays for all subscribers, I offer some extra things for paid subscribers:
‘Write Life’ posts - I’ll combine my writing, editorial, and coaching experience to share reflective pieces, prompts and resources to support writers, creators, and others. I’ll also share insights and updates on the book I’m working on.
Other essays - occasional reflective pieces including a ‘Soil & Soul’ series about the unseen, the numinous, the sacred and the land.
For ‘super supporters’, a handwritten card and a one hour coaching session on a topic of your choice (writing, work, life, something else).
…and of course, my deep gratitude.
A few other things about me
Some of my favourite books and writers at this moment in time are The Overstory by Richard Powers, the Earthsea books by Ursula K Le Guin, Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy, I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, Matrescence by Lucy Jones, and anything by Wendell Berry, Joan Didion, Kazuo Ishiguro.
I’m finding it harder to read books since having my daughter, and this frustrates me.
I learned to drive a tractor in Zambia.
I think love, care and compassion are undervalued forces for change. When I used this kind of language in local politics, people sometimes looked at me doubtingly.
I once ran the Dublin marathon (I use the term ‘ran’ loosely)
We have an allotment, it has plum trees, apple trees, a pear tree, and this make me happy.
My first degree was in Biology. Before that, I did half a medical degree then realised I absolutely did not want to be a doctor.
My mum’s maiden name is Staddon — it’s a place-derived name particular to Devon, and can be traced back over centuries. It comes from Old English, stōd 'stud herd of horses' + dūn 'hill'. I love horses and hills.
I’m curious about our attachment to places, about what makes a community thrive or wither, about how we reach past divides and difference, about what makes us come alive, about food and how it gets produced and eaten, about creativity and spirit and faith and purpose.
Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy (it does this guy, too)
Thank you for being here.
Love,
Elizabeth
PS - I have a website with details of how you can work with me if you want to, and I’m sometimes on Instagram
"I’m curious about our attachment to places, about what makes a community thrive or wither, about how we reach past divides and difference."
>What makes a community thrive or wither - a once a month pop up village pub isn't a half bad way for a community to thrive (speaking as someone who has just been to one).
>how we reach beyond divides and division - often only by going through a period of silence, absorption and a return to the place of pain having dispensed with the negative emotion.
"Experience is not what happens to you, it is what you do with what happens to you" Aldous Huxley
Two words you used which stood out were 'Aliveness' and 'Numinous' which seem to operate very comfortably together...
Thank you Elizabeth for your always thought provoking words by hand and via keyboard.
What a lovely introduction. We have a lot in common - books we both like, poetry (I love the Lautus Press editions) and an interest in our connection to place. I am from Wales originally and currently live in Australia, and never feel at home properly anywhere. I feel more attached to spaces I make with my family than the actual location. My son lives in Nairobi at the moment and I have, unexpectedly, greatly enjoyed exploring Kenya. Definitely think. like you, that we need more kindness and compassion in the world. I look forward to reading more - and then creating a stronger attachment in supporting your writing.