I was listening to a podcast the other day about human being's need for a tribe and how much we get from physically 'being' with other people. Social media tricks us into feeling we have a tribe with all of our virtual friends, sat on our sofa reading about what everyone is doing. We watch Netflix or Amazon, watching lives of other people and possibly wishing for a different life. Whilst there is nothing wrong with a bit of relaxation and escapism (I am an avid fan of all of these activities), none of them feed our human need of being part of a tribe, a collective, striving to make the world a better place, or just sharing experiences with others.
Bolton NEWT is a way for people to interact, have a laugh and share there experiences whilst working towards making the local community a better place and today's event was a prime example of that. We were lucky to welcome Barbara, Carolyn and Si this morning and they worked tirelessly with Jasmine Chris, Adele and Simon to clear the land around the iron bridge footings ready for planting wildflowers.
As we dug and dug, Si commented that "the deeper you dig, the more you find" and this was reflected in the conversations over dinner. We discussed politics, running, holidays, walking, work, philosophy on life - which ended up with Barbara, myself (Jasmine) and Carolyn concluding that life is too short to follow conventions and we need to do what we feel is right, makes us happy whilst contributing to other people's lives.
Planting the flowers gave us hope for more beauty to come, with blooms flowering in this lovely spot.
The afternoon saw James, Nieve and Alex join us for for more seed sowing and clearing the area ready for our Easter event. This event is for children, is absolutely free and there will be a treasure hunt, face painting, a raffle and pebble rocks art. We look forward to seeing you and meeting you face to face - part our our local tribe......
A big thank you to Norman and Pam for watering this finished area!
