High Places

The Olgas (Kata Tuja) in Central Australia. High, barren and special.....

After coming down off the high of the Do Lectures, I've been following some of the tweets and blogs of the participants. Universal praise and euphoria -- and it's clear that many were truly inspired by the stories that people like Steve Edge, Maggie Doyne, Euan Semple, Daniel Seddiqui, Peter Segger and Ed Stafford. read all about them and their talks here:

http://www.dolectures.com/speakers/

It was a a pleasure and a privilege to speak at the lectures, although it would have been nicer to speak somewhat earlier, rather than at the end of 4 days of intensive listening / talking / drinking and whatever else..... people were rather tired by the time I got to the platform, and the schedule had over-run by a couple of hours. But there you go. Somebody has to do it.....

There is quite a wry and perceptive write-up in the Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/sep/21/do-lectures-festival-that-inspires

This all got me thinking about the importance of high places on which you can escape from the pressures of everyday life, breathe deeply, and listen to the silence, or the wind, or the ravens. It's all about perspectives and overviews -- and maybe about meditation and inspiration. so when somebody asked me about a Little Do, i suggested that every week everybody should go up a mountain. Even a very little one. Not very easy if you live in East Anglia or the Netherlands. But anything will do -- just a little hill, maybe, or a tall building, or a church steeple. As long as it is above and remote from where you normally are.....